Safety improvements for the section of Broadway between Winchester Street and Central Street are currently in the planning stages. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By The Times Staff

Within the next few years, the section of Broadway between Winchester Street and Central Street will be reconstructed to further Somerville’s safe streets vision, improve access to public transit, and create more sustainable transportation options for commuters.

The first virtual community meeting for the Broadway-Magoun Reconstruction Project was held on October 15 by the mobility division team from the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD).

“For all projects, we start first and foremost with keeping people safe on our streets,” said Lillian Worth, transportation planner at the mobility division, who spoke at length about the reconstruction plan, which has been designated as a Complete Street project.

The mobility division broadly aims to make the streets safer through a variety of projects ranging from full street redesigns to smaller-scale traffic calming.

There are two ordinances that underscore the city’s commitment to keep streets safe, explained Worth. The Complete Streets Ordinance of 2014 broadly stipulates that streets should be designed for all modes of travel. Secondly, the Safe Streets Ordinance of 2024 sets specific targets and timelines for implementing street safety projects.

Paving map of recent and upcoming projects

Last year’s ordinance focuses on protecting bike lanes, accessible parking spaces, and pedestrian and transit improvements, explained Worth.

The city’s Vision Zero Action Plan of 2020 aims to eliminate deaths with the creation of safer streets.

“We know that it’s not really realistic to prevent 100 percent of people from ever making a mistake, but we need to design streets to account for these mistakes and ensure those mistakes don’t result in fatalities or life-altering injuries,” said Worth.

A reduction in vehicle speeds will reduce the likelihood of fatalities. Raised crosswalks will most likely be utilized along Broadway in this project.

Broadway has been designated as a priority for the installation of protected bike lanes by the Somerville Bicycle Network Plan that was published in 2023, which was further codified by the City Council’s recent Safe Streets Ordinance in 2024.

What’s included in the project thus far is the reconstruction of sidewalks and curb ramps, street repaving, new tree plantings, improved crosswalks, improvements on existing bike facilities, changes to parking regulations, traffic calming, and accessible parking spaces.

The anticipated project timeline is subject to change. “We are at the very beginning of our process and we will spend the next year developing the design and conducting community engagement,” said Worth.

The team anticipates that construction will commence in the summer of 2027, and due to the size and scope of the project, the construction process will take a few years.

Traffic data collected by automated traffic recorders in 2025 and streetlight data in 2023 provide average daily traffic volumes along the project area, showing average daily traffic to be between 4300-6800 cars per day going westbound and 6000 cars per day going eastbound.

Worth noted that the project area of Broadway sees a high percentage of vehicles that exceed the speed limit. The highest speeds occur between Medford Street and Central Street, with approximately 50 percent of vehicles exceeding the 25 MPH speed limit, according to the report.

Transportation Planner Kate White provided an overview of a 2024 study that looked at ways to address challenges with multi-municipality parcels and conflicting zoning regulations along this section of Broadway.

Some of the recommendations from the Central Broadway Corridor Zoning Study include requests for a better walking experience, pocket parks and more greenery, a reduction of complexity in Magoun Square, safer bike infrastructure, more parking, more space for outdoor dining, discouraging speeding, supporting connectivity to the Community Path, increase of safety at all intersections and the reduction of the volume of traffic.

“Our goal is to build a streetscape that accommodates the safety and mobility of as many people as possible, no matter what land uses there are on Broadway in the future,” said Adam Polinski, senior planner.