Winthrop Street Closed 11/23-11/26
Winthrop St. will be closed to traffic beginning Monday, November 23rd and lasting for 2 days while crews from the City's contractor, Newport Construction, work to place curbing and pavers on the street.
October 2020
Week of October 5 - Traffic signal sequencing at Bennett Street
Week of October 12 - Install pavers on Winthrop Street.
Project wrap up taking place over the next two weeks
7/13/2020: crews finished paving on Sunday, July 12th and will spend the next two weeks finishing sidewalk work, cleaning up the area and restoring pavement markings.
Noise variance submitted by Newport Construction for Overnight Paving
In order to coordinate with MBTA buses, Newport Construction will be milling and paving this section of roadway in the evening and overnight hours. Work is expected to take place on Thursday, July 9th and Sunday, July 12th. Work hours are expected to be 6PM-6AM.
To view the noise variance submitted, please click here.
Eliot St. Reconstruction Project- Work Resuming June 8, 2020
As part of the ongoing street and sidewalk reconstruction work on Eliot St., the City’s contractor, Newport Construction, will mobilize on Monday, June 8th to re-start work on Eliot St. Contractors are required to follow the safety guidelines established by the State and submit their COVID-19 Control Plans to the City. Newport Construction’s control plan has been accepted and they are permitted to proceed with work.
Work will include resetting curbs, installing brick sidewalks and reconstructing handicapped ramps.
This work is expected to take approximately 2-3 weeks, conditions permitting.
Detours will be in place during work hours. Please look for Detour signs, Road Closed signs, and No Parking signs as they will be changing frequently during the work.
Additional work on the street includes full-depth reconstruction and re-paving of part of Eliot St., brick restoration and installation of signage and markings on the street. The final paving of the project area will take place over a weekend when the MBTA busses are not running. This work will be announced via email notice in the upcoming weeks. The project is tentatively scheduled to be completed in late summer 2020.
What to Expect During Construction:
- General work hours will be 7am – 4pm, Monday-Friday.
- Please check posted No Parking signs.
- Please follow pedestrian detour signs.
- Access to properties will be maintained, when possible.
- Access will be maintained for emergency vehicles and City services.
Information & Assistance:
Questions regarding this project? Contact Kate Riley, Communications Manager, at 617-349-4870/ kriley@cambridgema.gov or Melissa Miguel, Supervising Engineer, at 617-349-9351/mmiguel@cambridgema.gov. For more information about the project and to sign up for the project email list, visit https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/publicworks/cityprojects/2018/elliotstreetreconstructionproject. If you have any special need or disability, please contact us to arrange for special accommodations that may be necessary.
The following email was sent May 28, 2020
Dear Neighbor,
On March 18th, Cambridge issued a Temporary Emergency Construction Moratorium to limit construction in the City to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Last week, the City issued an Amended Temporary Emergency Construction Order to allow construction to restart in a phased approach in the coming weeks.
What does this mean for construction in my neighborhood?
Beginning this week, you may start to see some construction activity related to site safety preparations, including installation of hand wash stations and other site modifications related to COVID-19 safety precautions. Beginning June 1st, you may start to see increased activity on your street related to the re-starting of construction. We will be in touch via additional notices with a schedule and information specific to the project on your street.
Residents should be aware that No Parking signs will start to appear in relation to construction activity. Contractors will make every effort to provide 48-hours’ notice, but please check the street frequently.
Help Us Spread the Word!
We will not be distributing paper notices to each location at this time. Please encourage your neighbors to sign up to receive email notifications about projects around the City at cambridgema.gov/subscribe.
COVID-19 Control Plan for Construction:
In addition to the stringent safety guidelines required by the State, all contractors will need to submit to the Inspectional Services Department or Department of Public Works, as appropriate, a COVID-19 Control Plan for Cambridge on permitted projects. This plan will require:
- A cleaning and decontamination checklist; The number of workers expected on the job site; and
- No non-essential personnel may be present at the worksite.
- Additionally, contractors will be encouraged, and in some cases required, to conduct a site-specific risk analysis and enhanced COVID-19 safety plan for more complex projects.
As previously announced on May 18, the City of Cambridge will expand currently allowed construction activity in the City in four phases:
- Phase 1, beginning May 25, will add site safety prep work for projects previously permitted by Inspectional Services (ISD) and Public Works (DPW). Forthcoming amendments to the City’s Temporary Emergency Construction Order issued on March 18 will modify the definition of essential construction to include work associated with COVID-19 restaurant modification needed to allow them to safely reopen;
- Phase 2, beginning on June 1, will add horizontal construction, city building projects, 100% affordable housing developments, larger buildings (over 25,000 square feet) previously permitted by ISD or DPW;
- Phase 3, tentatively beginning on June 15, will add all remaining existing construction previously permitted by ISD and DPW; and
- Phase 4, tentatively beginning on June 29, will add new permits. Permits can be submitted, and pre-reviews will occur at any time, but permits will not be formally accepted or issued until this date.
For additional details on the Amended Temporary Emergency Construction Order, please click here.
February 2020
Beginning the week of February 2nd, the City’s contractor, Newport Construction, will begin curb replacement work on Eliot Street. This work includes removing and replacing curbs on Eliot St. between John F. Kennedy St. and Winthrop St.
During this work, sidewalk detours for pedestrians will be in place. “No Parking” signs will also be present and changing frequently, so please check all posted signs.
What to Expect During Construction:
- General work hours will be 7am – 4pm, Monday – Friday.
- “No Parking” signs will be posted at least 48 hours in advance of construction; please be sure to check posted signs for exact dates and times.
- When work occurs directly in front of driveways or entryways, access may be limited. The contractor will work with businesses directly to limit disruptions to the greatest extent possible.
- City services will continue uninterrupted and emergency vehicles will maintain access at all times.
Information & Assistance:
If you have any questions regarding construction, please contact Kate Riley, Community Relations Manager, at 617.349.4870 / kriley@cambridgema.gov or Lou Mothon, Engineer at 857-233-8854.
Thank you in advance for your patience during this construction.
Crews will continue working on street lights and traffic signals.
December 2019
Crews have completed temporary paving and marking the roadway for the winter. They will continue electrical work including connecting and installing new street lights and pedestrian traffic controls. Weather permitting, crews will begin resetting curbs.
November 2019
11/18/2019-11/22/2019 Crews will be temporary paving the travel lane adjacent to Charlie's Kitchen.
October 2019
10/28/2019 Crews will be continuing water main work in front of Charlie's Kitchen. They will be testing and working to tie-in water services.
September 2019
Crews will be working to tie-in water services overnight on Tuesday, September 23rd beginning at 2AM. This work has been approved through a Special Noise Variance in order to limit water interruptions to abutters. This work is being performed by the Cambridge Water Department.
August 2019
Crews have encountered a few unforeseen conflicts with utilities in the area which has resulted in a delay in setting curbs and reconstructing sidewalks. The appropriate utility companies have been on-site trying to resolve these issues and we anticipate work to resume the week of 8/12.
A diagram of the pavement markings has been uploaded to the "Document" tab of the project page.
June 2019
6/2/2019-6/6/2019: No work scheduled
6/9/2019-6/20/2019: Crews will continue to replace water main and services. In addition, they will continue providing conduit for the new street light poles.
6/23/2019-7/19/2019: Pending completion of the water and electrical work, crews will begin replacing and resetting curbs, grading sidewalks and installing pavers.
May 2019
5/13-5/24: Crews will be working to replace the water main and lay conduit as weather permits. There will be no work the week of 5/27 to accommodate Harvard Commencement.
April, 2019:
Once Eversource is done with their work replacing the gas main and services, crews from the City's contractor, Newport Construction, will be mobilizing in advance of drainage work. This will entail installing tree protection and doing some subsurface investigations.
The following schedule has been updated:
June: Curb and sidewalk work, brick sidewalk installation, handicapped ramp installation and lighting and signal work
July: Brick restoration
August: Final paving, signage and markings, punch list
February/March 2020: Street light and traffic signal work.
April 2020: Road reconstruction
May/June 2020: Curb and sidewalk replacement
Updated Schedule
December 2019: street light wiring, installation, and connection. Pedestrian traffic signal and electrical work. Resetting curbing if weather permits.
April, 2019: Eversource Gas completes gas main and service replacements. Tree protection installed. Subsurface condition inspections.
May 2019: drainage installations. Water main replacement.
June 2019: water main replacement.
July/August 2019: curb and sidewalk replacement
July 2019: traffic signal and electrical work
August 2019: final paving of roadway, pavement markings.