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City of Cambridge staff presented plans for a redesign of the segment of Massachusetts Ave near Harvard Law School and Cambridge Common during an online webinar Wednesday evening.
The proposal for the approximately 150 feet stretch of street between Little Mass Ave. and Chauncy Street would replace concrete sidewalk and parking space with new green spaces. The project aims to tackle urban heat islands, which lead to higher temperatures and improving stormwater infiltration.
The new green spaces are set to include trees and plants, a stormwater drainage basin, and benches. But after a short presentation from city staff, residents voiced concerns about losing the existing garden, as well as parking spaces.
Cambridge resident Candace Young specifically criticized the plan because it appears to eliminate approximately six parking spaces on Mass Ave.
“It looks like there's going to be parking eliminated. So how much parking space will be eliminated?” she asked.
Andrew Reker, one of the planners, was unsure of the exact logistics but estimated that the parking space lost would be relatively minimal.
The project is part of an attempt to meet goals set by two longer term city initiatives: the Mass Ave. Planning Study and the Healthy Forest Healthy City. The Mass Ave. Planning Study — part of Envision Cambridge, the city’s comprehensive plan — is a vision plan for what a portion of Mass Ave. will look like in 2040. Healthy Forest Healthy City is part of the Cambridge Urban Forest Master Plan, which recently had its fifth year progress report meeting.
But even with the changes, residents were concerned about losing the existing green space in the area.
Jane Li, a certified master gardener in Massachusetts, said that many of the existing garden patches in the area did not receive the maintenance they needed.
“We have a small wooden fence in the grassy area along the Little Mass Ave. that often collects trash and does not appear to receive regular maintenance,” Lee said. “It becomes quite unsightly, and a couple of residents, including myself, have to climb in to clean it.”
Lee, who currently maintains the small garden that has occupied the space for 20 years, said that she was worried that her garden is no longer included in the plans for the space.
James Wilcox, the city engineer of Public Works, said that additional maintenance will be allocated to this new project.
“In order for that to be successful, there’s definitely going to be some maintenance above and beyond what we do for typical open spaces,” Wilcox said.
The project is set to begin in 2026, and city staff estimated that it will be finished in the same year.
