Sept. 24-28: Overnight Firehouse Equipment Transport Road Closures, Traffic and Noise Impacts

Four large trucks transporting materials and equipment needed for the construction of the temporary Station 10 Firehouse will move slowly through Riverside and Mid-Cambridge overnight on Sunday, September 24; Monday, September 25; Tuesday, September 26; and Thursday, September 28. (Update: The date of the final overnight delivery has changed from Wednesday, September 27, to Thursday, September 28.) 

Residents should expect traffic impacts, road closures, and bright lights as police escort a truck with a 110-foot trailer through Cambridge between 8 p.m. each night and 7 a.m. the next morning. There will be some noise associated with the procession, including beeping as the truck backs up at turns. 

Lead image: Truck transporting fire station equipments arrives at Harvard staging area. 

Impacted Roads

Click here to download a full-sized route map.

The route is the same each night, and includes the following streets:

In Boston (departs at about 8 p.m.)

• Soldiers Field Road
• Western Avenue
• Academic Way
• North Harvard Street

In Cambridge (arrives in Cambridge around 10 p.m.)

• Memorial Drive (between JFK Bridge and River Street)
• River Street (between Memorial Drive and Mass Ave)
• Prospect Street (between Mass Ave and Hampshire Street)
• Hampshire Street (between Prospect Street and Cambridge Street)
• Cambridge Street (between Hampshire Street and Hovey Avenue)

The truck is expected to arrive at 15 Hovey Ave.sometime between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Truck will deliver modular fire station to 15 Hovey Ave. 

The truck is transporting pieces of a modular fire station, which will serve as the temporary Fire Department Headquarters while the headquarters at 491 Broadway is renovated. Construction on the Broadway station is expected to last from Winter 2023 to Winter 2025. 

The pieces of the temporary fire station include:

• Apparatus bays for fire engines and gear
• Living quarters for fire fighters, including a kitchen, work area, fitness room, restrooms, and bunkrooms 

What to expect during transport

Crews will transport the modular fire station in four sections – one each night on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The loaded trailer is about 17 feet high, and wide enough to block two lanes of traffic. Police will implement road closures as the truck travel through the route, including both traffic lanes on River Street and Prospect Street.

While crews and police will try to keep disturbances to a minimum, there will be noise and bright lights as the procession travels through Cambridge. On City streets, the truck will move slowly, at about one mile per hour.   

Impacts to Cambridge Hospital and Spaulding Hospital 

The City will ensure that ambulances will be able to reach Cambridge Hospital at 1493 Cambridge St. and Spaulding Hospital Cambridge at 1575 Cambridge St. Anyone who needs emergency care at the Cambridge Hospital and Spaulding Hospital during the transports should alert any of the police officers stationed along the route and they will provide assistance in getting to the hospital.

Contact 

For more information, contact Kristen Kelleher at kkelleher@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4825. If you encounter a problem while the transport is underway, contact the police non-emergency line at 617-349-3300.