Local and state officials are trying to decide what to do with the massive bridge passing over portions of Somerville that connects to Cambridge and leads into Boston.
Calling the McCarthy Overpass “a monument to urban blight,” Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said the elevated roadway should be taken down to help integrate the neighborhoods that surround it.
The McCarthy Overpass is the elevated structure that carries Route 28, or McGrath Highway, over Washington Street in Somerville.
The structure provides access to travelers from Somerville to Cambridge and into Boston.
“We think bringing [it] down to street level would help integrate…the rest of the city while enhancing both the physical appearance and the development potential of the entire district,” said Curtatone in a statement on Wednesday.
Curtatone wants to ditch the massive overpass, which MassDOT officials have said is in need of “substantial repairs,” and bring the roadway to ground level.
On Thursday night, the Somerville mayor will meet with members of MassDOT for a public hearing hosted by the Somerville State Legislative Delegation and the City of Somerville.
Prior to the meeting, the LivableStreets Alliance, a group dedicated to providing better bicycling, walking, and public transit to the public, will discuss their “Remove McGrath Campaign.”
LivableStreets has launched the campaign calling for the immediate removal of the overpass.
“The elevated highway continues to be a scar on the neighborhood and an obstacle to economic development and more livable neighborhoods. Somerville residents deserve better than this,” said Steven Nutter, Advocacy Committee member of LivableStreets. “Our roads should reflect the needs of all users and the communities through which they pass.”
The group, who is meeting tonight in Somerville to rally for its removal, believes the state shouldn’t waste an estimated $11 million just to do patch work on the overpass.
MassDOT officials are in the midst of conducting a study called “Grounding McGrath” to determine the fate and future of the Route 28 corridor.
On their website, MassDOT said the study will seek to find a balance not only for the needs of all transportation users, “but to also facilitate connections along the corridor, and encourage development that will have a positive impact on the neighborhoods and the region as a whole.”
The bridge’s fate has not been determined, but MassDOT officials have been invited as guests to Thursday night’s hearing.
According to LivableStreets, the meeting comes on the heels of a decision by the state to get rid of the Casey Overpass in Jamaica Plain and replace it with surface roads providing better walking and biking as well as driving.
Here is a video from LivableStreets asking passerby what they would like to see happen to the bridge:
