Porter Square project ending soon!

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

The Cambridge construction website has been saying that the Porter Square redesign project was quiet for the winter, but apparently things are starting up again next week, April 10, with repaving to happen in only a few weeks - April 23-28. Apparently, the contractor wants to finish up the major things by the end of April so they can move on to their next project, which is the big Harvard Square thing.

Also, the gas work (replacing old gas lines) on Beech Street is supposed to take four weeks, and will continue up to Mass Ave towards Regent and Porter Roads, which means that the final repaving of the Mass Ave/Beech Street intersection will be a little bit later than the rest of Porter, and will probably be done when Porter Road is repaved (that street is getting gas work plus a retaining wall and street and sidewalk repair).

Comments

[jadelennox]

But that website doesn't explain why they thought knee-high boulders embedded in the pavement on a flight of steps and adjacent to a curb cut was a sound design decision.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Pedestrian traffic calming?

I also hate the stairs, which are annoyingly deep (step length) and shallow (step height).

[ron_newman]

Where are these stairs?

[magid.livejournal.com]

From about the Healthworks entrance up to Mass Ave.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

What I find to be the real head-scratcher is the painted steel plates embedded in the ground. They not only look perfectly designed to catch graffiti, but I know it's only a matter of time until I walk into one approaching from the skinny side (they look to be about a half inch thick)and inflict a grievous self-injury. To say nothing of the whole black and white (already black and dirty) Alice-in-Wonderland design. Okay, I will say something: it's awful.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Did any of you participate in the public meetings about this before the final design?