Although the present day McCarthy overpass is destined to become a thing of the past, the public is being reminded that change can often come gradually, and sometimes annoyingly so.

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden

The McGrath Highway/McCarthy Boulevard Project has been moving along, although perhaps not as quickly as many residents in the city would prefer. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation and City of Somerville recently held a public information meeting to explain some of the current goings-on with the grounding of the McCarthy overpass.

For a refresher, this project was launched to fit a variety of current and forthcoming demands within Somerville’s infrastructure, especially those areas central to Route 28. From the outset of the plan, officials wished to ground the McCarthy Overpass – which was designated as in need of substantial repairs – and bring the McGrath Highway corridor into the modern era.

As a note, other aspects of the initiative involved a new designation of the highway to be more akin to a boulevard, and preparing for the advent of the Green Line extension to Medford that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has been working on.

Thus far, the latest stage of the McGrath Highway/McCarthy Boulevard project to be completed was the Grounding McGrath planning study that highlighted some of the core needs of the area’s infrastructure, as well as indicated which procedures might be most beneficial.

This latest meeting was held to inform the public of the next stages of the project, which will involve the design of the actual construction to be completed. As officials have noted, the goal is to get this area to a classification of “complete streets,” which would include bicycle, pedestrian and automobile functionality.

Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston, whose territory includes part of the project’s area, explained some of the reasons why the construction is so important in an email correspondence with The Somerville Times.

“The highway has long been a barrier to connection from East Somerville and Brickbottom to Union Square and beyond,” Alderman Heuston affirmed. “This project provides those connections and, with the recent razing of the waste transfer station, it opens up wonderful opportunities. It also will address myriad issues related to pedestrian and bicycle travel which is virtually impossible in the current state.”

She went on to state that while the short-term aspects of the project remain a bit testy, the long-term scope appears to be right on schedule with initial estimates for completion. The officials involved announced at the last meeting that a surplus in budget thus far has led them to begin considering moving the timeline up on the final workings.

Residents should remember that the population of Somerville is rising rapidly, accelerating past the state average of 2.2 percent in growth last year with 4.1 percent in the city. Infrastructure upgrades are increasingly a requirement of the community, especially as more individuals move within its borders.

Projects such as this are notably put forth with the long-term in mind, while the short-term fixes are more to keep matters in order ahead of major upgrades’ completion.

Alderman Heuston added that she has been an advocate of grounding the highway since the first discussions were held, and stressed the importance of ensuring MassDOT’s newest study group maintain focus on real-time issues, such as Union Square traffic.

“This is a long term project. It is not going to happen any time soon but we should first look to the short term changes and make sure they work ,” she noted. “I know there is some concern that this may empty traffic onto our streets making things worse than they are now. That is why I am hoping that the ‘study group’ MassDOT referred to brings a practicality to the project. It will if we can be assured that some local residents are included. Finally, coordination with all the other changes on the docket for this area of the City is crucial to the success of this project, or else we might be standing around 20 years from now wondering where things went wrong.”

Residents who are interested in learning more about this project can reference MassDOT’s main website, as well as that of the City of Somerville. More announcements and meetings are expected to come in the ensuing months, and Somervillians are urged to attend and provide their input on the matter.