davis_square | Walkway under McGrath?

closetalker11.livejournal.com posting in

Hi everyone!

Is there a way to walk under the highway over by Assembly Square? Specifically here: http://g.co/maps/u8bv7

Thanks!!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

gingicat

There's a walkway from the back of the Stop&Shop on McGrath over the 93-South entrance ramp and under I-93 and so forth which leads to the sidewalk along 28 by the Middlesex County Courthouse... I don't recommend it at night, I gotta say.

There are buses that go from Sullivan Sq to Assembly Sq.

From:

starphire.livejournal.com

When there was still a movie theatre at Assembly Square, walking over at night felt less spooky and merely adventurous since one usually had companions. But yeah, the lighting isn't great, and it's a wide underpass.
Even during the daytime, I wouldn't recommend this crossing for anyone who isn't physically in good enough shape to run or walk very quickly across a few lanes if you encounter an oblivious driver coming at you. Cars are often going fast down those stretches, and there are few enough people doing it that most drivers aren't expecting to encounter any pedestrians along there.

From:

ron_newman

Yes, there's a pedestrian underpass that Google Maps doesn't know about. You can see it here.

It is not well-maintained, and doesn't have any stoplights at the various roads it crosses (some of which are fairly heavily-used on- or off-ramps). I don't know how well-lit it is at night, either.

Here's a Street View from the Stop & Shop end. I can't find a good Street View from the Assembly Square end.

By the way, you are not walking under McGrath Highway, you are walking under I-93.

Edited Date: 2012-01-10 04:43 pm (UTC)

From:

badseed1980.livejournal.com

It's not very well-lit, but I've never had any issues there even at night. I have used it fairly frequently. From the Assembly Square end, you basically have to walk by the left side of the little Caribbean restaurant that's across the street from Assembly Square at the K-Mart end of the mall, and then under the highway.

From:

ron_newman

It's called the Kensington underpass, for mostly historical reasons -- a street called Kensington Ave. used to run through what's now the Stop & Shop parking lot. A tiny little stub-end of that street still exists on the Assembly Square side.

From:

pierceheart.livejournal.com

Actually, it's Kensington Ave on both sides - it goes from Broadway to Blakely Ave (which borders the Stop & Shop lot), then resumes on the other side of the highway, behind the Dunkies ...

From:

starphire.livejournal.com

Oh, nifty Gmap summary of the hidden paths of Somerville - thanks for the link!
(also, I created a few of those shortcuts using the Mapmaker app - nice to see they've been noticed)

From:

ron_newman

If you know of any that I've left out of my map, please let me know, or I can even add you as a collaborator so you can put them on yourself.

I advertise my map here a couple times each year, but I don't want to spam the community.

From:

moominmolly.livejournal.com

Oh, that map is wonderful! Thank you. Bookmarking it.

I will note that the big (!) noting that a fence blocks your path when walking from Stop & Shop to Foss Park is out of date. Sort of. There's still a huge fence blocking your path, but someone has cut a big human-sized hole in it right where you'd want one, and it has become a well-trodden footpath.

From:

ron_newman

I'm glad to hear that, and hope the fence is not repaired. I've added your observation to the map, but I'll need to personally verify before making a definitive edit.

Edited Date: 2012-01-10 05:49 pm (UTC)

From:

moominmolly.livejournal.com

Do check it out. It's kind of cute. I'm a frequent walker in that area and lover of shortcuts. What I mean is: why, thank you! I'd love to be a collaborator, and thank you for thinking of me.

Edited Date: 2012-01-10 07:43 pm (UTC)

From:

ron_newman

I'd happily add you as a map collaborator, but I can't find your e-mail address on your LJ profile page.

From:

moominmolly.livejournal.com

Oh, awesome! My lj email address works, or flinch at gmail. Thanks!

From:

ron_newman

Done. If you edit the map, please let me know what you change, as Google Maps does not keep any sort of change log or edit history.

From:

boblothrope.livejournal.com

Yet there is a brand new traffic light, still in flash mode, at New Road and Mystic Ave northbound (just north of Home Depot). There's no reason for pedestrians to cross there, since there's nothing on the west side of Mystic except the retaining wall for 93.

Why didn't they put the light at Kensington instead?

Once the light is activated, it will be yet another obstacle to traffic heading to 93 North from as far back as *North Station*, since that's now the first on-ramp north of downtown.

By the way, Google Maps has property lines which show several more de-mapped streets in the area.

From:

tober.livejournal.com

My understanding is that that light is part of the project to rearrange the flow of traffic and route 93 access in the vicinity of Assembly Square in order to accommodate IKEA and other new development. I am unsure what the status of that whole project is at this point - I believe that the IKEA construction is sort of in limbo at the moment although apparently the Assembly Square Orange Line station has been fully committed to and funded and is under at least the preliminary phases of construction.

From:

boblothrope.livejournal.com

Well, the similar-looking new light at Sturtevant/Lombardi and Mystic has been in service for a month or two. And it's annoying -- they added a phase for the u-turn ramp, which never needed one before, which meant adding a red left arrow for Lombardi.

From:

tober.livejournal.com

I hear you and I agree - on the other hand, if and when the IKEA opens, the new lights will hardly be superfluous - and I can tell you that when that time comes, although I might visit the IKEA, I'm going to take public transit. It's going to be a mess.