The Cambridge Common and Flagstaff Park project aims to rehabilitate all aspects of the Common as well as improve conditions for all users of these parks and those travelling along this section of Mass. Avenue, from Garden Street to Cambridge Street. It also seeks to unify the historic landscape of the Common by simplifying the vocabulary of the design. The planning of the project has been underway for many years, along with securing funding for the nearly $4m project. The project will replace all pathway surfaces on the Common to meet access codes with bituminous paving with a brick edge, replace and upgrade all benches and trash cans, plant over 100 trees and remove older under-story plantings, improve drainage and turf surfaces, and rehabilitate the lighting system to extend its life and add lighting to pathways where it is missing.
Across the street, along the Mass. Avenue side of Flagstaff Park, the curbs will be moved out and a two-way multi-use path constructed with crossings at each end to create better bicycle and pedestrians connections between Harvard Square and Mass. Avenue northbound.
This project has been completed. No further updates to this project page will be made.
The project is now complete.
June 20, 2016
- Crews are working on final punch list items.
- All major construction activities are complete.
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June 6, 2016
- Crews will continue with irrigation work
- All significant construction activities are complete
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May 2, 2016
- Brick work around the cannons will be complete this week.
- Crews will continue working on the field installing new soil.
- Irrigation will be installed later this week.
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March 30, 2016
- Brick work around the monuments is almost complete.
- Field loaming and landscaping will begin in April.
- All pathways are complete and open to the public.
- Construction activities are expected to be complete by the end of May.
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Winter 2016
- Improvements within the Common will be ongoing throughout the winter, mainly brick work around the monument, weather dependent.
- All pathways completed.
- Irrigation piping, cobblestone strip, and wood rail fence being installed along Garden St and should be complete in February.
- Brick and granite pavers being installed around the monument.
- Majority of benches have been installed and Big Belly trash/recycling receptacles will be installed upon delivery.
- Additional seeding and planting to take place in Spring 2016.
- Project includes improved pathways within the Cambridge Common, new benches, trash and recycling receptacles new trees and grass, improved playing fields and irrigation.
- Ballfield area to be completed: Spring 2016.
- Scheduled to be completed: Spring 2016.
October 9, 2015
Cambridge Common & Flagstaff Park
Construction Update
*Please note the following anticipated schedule is weather dependent*
Anticipated Completion - Fall 2015:
- All Pathways and Plaza Areas
- Pathway Lighting
- Perimeter Curbing and Cobblestone Pavement
- Post and Rail Fence
- Parking Meters
- Site Furnishings: Benches, Bicycle Parking, Trash and Recycling Receptacles
- Perimeter Tree Planting
Anticipated Completion - Spring 2016:
- Kiosk and Signage
- Remaining Tree Planting (Interior Trees)
- Irrigation
- Lawn Seeding and Establishment
MassDOT and the City of Cambridge appreciate your patience.
For any questions, please contact MassDOT supervising engineer, Claude Noailles at 617-222-0008 or claude.noailles@state.ma.us
October 2015
- Improvements within the Common will be ongoing throughout the fall. The Mass Ave road work is complete.
- Pedestrian pathways remain under construction, however the path adjacent to the Tot Lot is now open.
- Pedestrian access to the path adjacent to the cannons, from Garden St to Mass Ave, will be closed for the next several weeks while work is completed.
- Irrigation piping began this week along Mass Ave.
- Tree planting and seeding to take place from October through Thanksgiving, weather permitting.
- Installation of cobblestones around the monument to begin 9/28, weather permitting.
- Additional seeding and planting to take place in Spring 2016.
- Project includes improved pathways within the Cambridge Common, new benches, trash and recycling receptacles new trees and grass, improved playing fields and irrigation.
- Pathways to be completed: Fall 2015
- Tree Plantings to be competed: Fall 2015 and Spring 2016
- Ballfield area to be completed: Spring 2016
- Scheduled to be completed: Spring 2016
September 2015
- Pedestrian pathways remain under construction, however the path adjacent to the Tot Lot is now open. Pedestrian access to the path adjacent to the cannons, from Garden St to Mass Ave, will be closed for the next 2 weeks while work is completed.
- Tree planting and seeding to take place from October through Thanksgiving, weather permitting.
- Installation of cobblestones around the monument to begin 9/28, weather permitting.
- Additional seeding and planting to take place in Spring 2016.
August 2015
Flaggstaff Park is currently open. The new path allows users to ride their bicycles of enjoy a run or walk through the park. This month crews will be working on the pedestrian paths within the Cambridge Common.
The project is now complete.
Crews will mobilize on Massachusetts Ave near Garden St on Thursday, June 12 to begin roadway reconstruction and installation of the new multi-use path through Flagstaff Park. Work in this area will take about 2-3 months to complete.
Improvements within the Common will begin in mid-July and will continue into the fall. Crews will suspend construction activities within the Common for the winter and will resume in the spring of 2015.
Overall construction is expected to last about 18-24 months. This includes work within the Common, improvements on Massachusetts Ave and Flagstaff Park.
Please check back for additional schedule information.
Cambridge Common is a National Historic Landmark. Its long and colorful history, connecting it with seventeenth century New England settlement, the Revolutionary War, and regional nineteenth and twentieth century events and trends, make it an important place and tourist attraction.
The Common is also one of the city's major parks. It contains a popular tot lot (which was recently re-built with a $500,000 renovation), youth soccer and other passive activities on its 16 acres. It is a haven for neighborhood people who want a place to relax in the sun or on a bench under a tree. The Common is also significant in that over 10,000 pedestrians and cyclists pass through it on a daily basis.
The Cambridge Common underwent its last significant reconstruction in 1974. At the present time, many elements of the Common need significant work, including broken pathway paving, missing and broken lighting, poor drainage, excess paving, older benches and trash cans, gaps in the tree canopy and older plantings.
A history of changes to the Common was compiled by the city’s Historical Commission and can be by going to the documents tab.
Pedestrian and bicycle travel through this area can be difficult because of the amount of vehicle traffic and past reconfigurations of the roadway to accommodate an underpass constructed under the Harvard campus at Peabody and Cambridge streets and the MBTA bus tunnel at Flagstaff Park. Peabody Street and Garden Street are too narrow for bicycle lanes, and the volume and nature of how traffic flows around the Common makes it difficult for cyclists. At present, the primary travel routes for pedestrians and cyclists wanting to travel from Harvard Square to Mass. Avenue northbound are through the north yard of the Harvard campus or through the Common but these routes may not best serve people depending on their exact starting and ending points.
Because of the complex travel patterns in the area, the Common's function as a travel corridor is being improved through small changes. Minor pathway realignments and other pathway changes are being made to reflect actual pedestrian and bicycle travel patterns and to minimize conflict between the two travel modes. In general, pathway widths are staying the same, except where minor widening is being done to make paths a consistent width.
Concerns about pedestrian/bicycle conflict on shared-use paths in and around the Common have been discussed in depth through several public forums over the years. Representatives of the Pedestrian Committee, the Bicycle Committee, Committee on Public Planting, Historical Commission, Harvard University, Cambridge Office of Tourism, and representatives of the various City departments (including Community Development; Traffic, Parking, and Transportation; Public Works; Police; and the City Manager's Office) reached an agreement several years ago that pedestrians and cyclists should both be accommodated on the Common with this renovation proposal.
As part of the Harvard Square Design Study completed in 2004, the lack of a good bicycle and pedestrian connection through Flagstaff Park was noted as a major impediment to travel between Harvard Square and North Mass. Avenue. The study recommended a multi-use path connection through Flagstaff Park be designed to create a direct and safe connection along the north-eastern edge of Mass. Avenue opposite the Common.
City of Cambridge
Department of Public Works
147 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Office hours are Mondays, 8:30 AM to 8 PM
Tuesday through Thursday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM
Fridays, 8:30 AM to 12 noon
For additional information or assistance, please contact Kelly Dunn, Community Relations Manager, at 617.349.4870 or kdunn@cambridgema.gov.
For 24-hour emergency assistance please call Public Works at 617.349.4800.