Legislature Passes Bill Clearing Way for Cambridge Road Intersection Reconstruction in Woburn and Burlington
BOSTON – The intersection at Cambridge Road, Bedford Road, and South Bedford Street in the City of Woburn and the Town of Burlington has long been a source of traffic safety concerns for the surrounding communities. The Massachusetts Legislature recently passed bill H.5616, authorizing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to take easements over land in Woburn and Burlington needed to rebuild and widen the intersection to improve safety, traffic flow, and access for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus riders.
The legislation was filed by Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and cosponsored by Representatives Kenneth I. Gordon (D-Bedford) and Michelle L. Ciccolo (D-Lexington), with a companion bill in the Senate filed by Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington). Having passed both chambers, the bill now awaits Governor Maura Healey’s signature.
“This intersection has presented real safety and traffic challenges over the years,” said Representative Haggerty. “I was happy to file the House Bill and see this project move toward construction. The upgrades will go a long way toward improving safety and reducing the daily congestion that drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians experience. Projects like this need close cooperation at every level, and I want to recognize my House colleagues Representatives Gordon and Ciccolo, Senator Friedman, local city and town officials, MassDOT and the City of Boston for their efforts on getting this project to where it is today. I look forward to seeing the finished result and the lasting benefits it will bring to both communities.”
“This legislation will address serious safety and traffic concerns that our constituents have been facing for years,” said Representative Gordon. “I am grateful to my colleagues, and Representative Haggerty in particular, for their collaboration and hard work to get this issue resolved.”
“This legislation represents a critical step forward in meaningfully enhancing safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus riders,” said Representative Ciccolo. “These carefully considered improvements are the result of extensive work at many levels of government and I applaud the dedication of all involved.”
“The Massachusetts Constitution provides for some of the strongest protections of open space, conservation and recreation land in the nation,” said Senator Friedman, who sponsored the Senate version of this bill. “This bill will not only improve the pedestrian and traffic safety of this intersection, but through great planning by Burlington and MassDOT, results in a net increase in protected conservation land in the Commonwealth. I thank my partners in the House for their collaboration to get this done before the end of session.”
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Improvement Program has classified the intersection as a high-crash cluster. A road safety audit conducted in 2014 first flagged a range of concerns at the site, including a single travel lane in each direction with no dedicated turn lanes, narrow shoulders with no bicycle accommodations, minimal sidewalks, and bus stops that fall short of current accessibility standards.
Under the design MassDOT presented at a public hearing in March 2024, the rebuilt intersection will include dedicated left-turn lanes on Cambridge Street and dedicated right-turn lanes on Bedford Road and South Bedford Street, paired with a new, fully actuated traffic signal system intended to ease congestion during peak travel times. The project will also introduce five-foot buffered bicycle lanes on Cambridge Street and separated bike lanes along Bedford Road and South Bedford Street, closing a gap in an area that currently has no dedicated bicycle infrastructure. New five-foot sidewalks are planned on both sides of every approach, along with ADA-compliant curb ramps, wider “mixing zone” pedestrian areas at the intersection’s corners, and crosswalks on all four legs of the intersection. The MBTA’s bus routes, which currently lack compliant stops at the intersection, will also receive new, ADA-accessible stops relocated outside the travel lanes. Officials have described the improvements as a meaningful step toward a safer, more efficient intersection that delivers long-term benefits to the surrounding neighborhoods in both communities.
The legislation authorizes MassDOT to take roughly 4,603 square feet of temporary construction easements and 8,917 square feet of permanent easements on land held in trust by the City of Boston for the Mary P.C. Cummings Testamentary Trust, and to cover all associated engineering, survey, appraisal, and deed-preparation costs. The legislation also provides for conservation mitigation consistent with Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, ensuring no net loss of protected land.
The project was added to the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Improvement Program in 2021 at the request of Woburn and Burlington. After studying a two-lane roundabout and other alternatives, MassDOT settled on a signalized redesign, submitting a preliminary, 25-percent design in the fall of 2023 and holding a public hearing on that design in March 2024. From there, design work progressed to the 75-percent stage later in 2024 and is moving through the final design stage. With this recent legislative action clearing the way for the necessary right-of-way, the project is scheduled to break ground in the spring of 2028.
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