Holland St & College Ave Mobility Improvements

Construction has now begun on College Ave new Powder House Circle and will proceed toward Davis Square over the course of the summer and fall. You will see sidewalks being rebuilt and curbs being reset, and there will be pedestrian detours and parking restrictions to accommodate this work. You can sign up for a weekly digest of updates on construction in the City of Somerville at this link and you can email construction related concerns and questions to construction@somervillema.gov.

A StoryMap has been posted detailing the College Avenue street design here: https://bit.ly/CollegeAveProject. Now that the design has been finalized, the Mobility Division will seek final approval from the Traffic Commission for the curbside regulation changes needed to implement these improvements as well as for the parking mitigation plan.

Work is expected to be completed later this year or early in 2022. Construction will then proceed to Holland Street, which will be the subject of a separate StoryMap.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis, and Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballantyne invite you to attend the third virtual community meeting about the Holland Street and College Avenue Mobility Improvements project on Wednesday, December 9, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will take place on the GoToMeeting webinar platform. Register to attend at bit.ly/HollandCollegeMeeting3.

At this meeting, staff will review the design and community process to date, present the proposed final design for each roadway, and discuss the phased project implementation plan. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and respond to the presentation material. Staff will also review a parking management strategy and a phased project implementation plan that seeks to mitigate potential small business impacts.

The images in this article detail the proposed final design - please click on the headline to view the full article with all images included.

The first image below provide an overview of the facilities provide along each side of the street. The locations of different types of bus and bike lanes are included as well as all of the locations where parking will remain. Pedestrian safety and crossing improvements are also highlighted.

The next image below provides more detail about bike facilities and bike connections between squares and between the two sections of the community path. The city is proposing to allow contraflow bicycling on Wallace St and Park Ave to provide lower stress alternatives to bicycling on Holland St and College Ave. These facilities will include marked bike lanes at the entrances and exits, as well as additional signs, flex posts, pavement markings to alert people driving. In addition, the city will be exploring the potential for installing advisory bike lanes Buena Vista Rd to provide a lower stress connection to the community path.

The next image details the locations of pedestrian and transit improvements, including existing and new crosswalks, bump outs, in-lane bus stops, and bus stop changes.

The last two images detail parking changes. The first image shows where parking will remain as it exists today, where it will be restricted during just three hours of the day, and where it will no longer be permitted. The second image details a parking management strategy including new parking meters, shorter term regulations, accessible parking spaces, and additional loading/pickup/dropoff zones to more efficiently serve a greater number of users and reduce the impacts of parking spaces that will be repurposed.

Holland St., College Ave. to undergo mobility, roadway improvements in 2021

Join the City of Somerville, Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis, and Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballantyne for a community meeting on Thursday, August 13, to discuss planned improvements to Holland St. and College Ave.

While the sidewalk and pavement maintenance on Holland St and College Ave has been deferred until Spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis, the design process for mobility improvements has continued.

At this webinar-style virtual meeting, staff will briefly summarize the information presented at the last meeting, review the feedback that has been collected to date, and present a conceptual street design for each corridor.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and respond to the presentation material via live chat.

Meeting link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3409700315414795275

For more information or if you have any questions, visit https://somervoice.somervillema.gov/hollandandcollege or email transportation@somervillema.gov.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings, should contact the City’s Director of Human Services, Nancy Bacci, at 617-625-6600 x2250 or NBacci@somervillema.gov.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far in the community process for the Holland St & College Ave Mobility Improvements project. After holding a public meeting in February with more than 80 people in attendance, we have received more than 200 responses to the Street Design Survey and more than 140 pins and comments have been placed on the Public Input Map. This input has been an invaluable resource for city staff and has helped shape many aspects of the street design.

This update is intended to provide some important information about the status of this project:

1. Due to the acute and still uncertain financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, the City has been in the process of reducing spending, considering deferring projects, and reevaluating the operating budget and capital investment plan. Based on this reevaluation, accounting for potential cash flow limitations, and in light of the practical reality that the bidding of this project was delayed at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, a decision has been made to defer the implementation of the Holland St & College Ave Mobility Improvements project to the 2021 construction season. This revised schedule is contingent on a better understanding of the City’s financial condition as the health crisis continues to unfold, and is subject to change.

1. As a part of an Eversource gas main and service replacement project, there is visible construction currently happening on Holland St. This work is not a part of the city's resurfacing project, but must be completed before resurfacing can begin. More information on this project and how Eversource will be working to protect the health of employees, customers, and the general public, and avoid the spread of coronavirus, can be found here: https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/holland-st-letters.pdf

1. Design work on this project continues as planned and will still be finalized this year through the community process. A public meeting to present the design will take place virtually this summer, with the specific date and time to be announced. City staff will present in a webinar style format and hold a question and answer session. The results of the Street Design Survey and Public Input Map will be presented, along with the proposed street designs for Holland St and College Ave.

Although this news is disappointing to us all, we thank you for your support and continued involvement in this project. More information will be made available here on the SomerVoice project page as soon as possible.

Holland St., College Ave. to undergo mobility, roadway improvements in 2020

Join the City of Somerville, Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis, and Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballantyne for a community meeting on Monday, February 24, to discuss planned improvements to Holland St. and College Ave. The meeting will be held in the Atrium Room of the Tufts Administration Building, 167 Holland St., from 6:30 to 8 p.m. City staff will introduce the purpose and scope of this project, provide existing conditions data, and present concepts for potential roadway improvements to support sustainable, multi-modal transportation and improve traffic safety. Community members are invited to provide input about the conceptual designs and priority locations for different types of improvements.

Plans for the project include resurfacing the roadways and sidewalks on Holland St. (from Davis Square to Teele Square) and College Ave. (from Davis Square to Powder House Circle).

For more information or if you have any questions, visit https://somervoice.somervillema.gov/hollandandcollege or email transportation@somervillema.gov.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings, should contact the City’s Director of Human Services, Nancy Bacci, at 617-625-6600 x2250 or NBacci@somervillema.gov.