A virtual hearing was hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Oct. 21, 2025, to provide an update on its planned bike and pedestrian bridge over the Mystic River between Draw Seven Park in Somerville and the Northern Strand Trail in Everett, which it expects to complete by the end of 2029.
The online presentation unveiled the bridge's "25 percent" design — a concept-level plan that, if approved, will allow the project to advance into its final phases of permitting and preparations of detailed construction blueprints.
William Conroy, MassDOT's project manager of the car-free bridge, told attendees that the agency had already made "extensive … leaps and bounds since the last public information meeting." He also noted that progress had been made on the Mystic River project's environmental permitting process, a necessary step before the construction begins sometime next year.
The broad details of the design remain unchanged from versions that MassDOT had presented earlier in 2025. The bridge will be 18 ft. wide, with gentle slopes that allow it to be fully accessible under Americans With Disabilities Act standards.
But project designers also were able to share some new details during the virtual presentation. For instance, the Mystic River bridge will have lighting integrated into its railings to illuminate the bridge deck at night.
In addition, the state transportation agency offered a look at how the new bridge will connect to existing riverfront public spaces in Everett and Somerville, StreetsblogMASS noted.
On the Somerville side, the bridge will thread under the existing Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) regional rail bridge near that city's riverbank and above the existing river trail in Draw Seven Park before touching down at an oval plaza next to MBTA's Assembly Orange Line station.
That plaza is already being constructed as part of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's (DCR) ongoing renovations to Draw Seven Park.
"We have been coordinating with DCR and the park designers to fully integrate both of these projects together," said Dirk Grotenhuis, an engineering consultant for the bridge project.
During the Oct. 21 meeting's question-and-answer session, Rep. Mike Connolly asked about plans to provide a direct connection between the proposed bridge and the Assembly Orange Line station.
Currently, the station is only accessible from Great River Road, west of the rail tracks. A connection to Draw Seven Park would require the construction of a new station entrance and elevator on the east side of the tracks.
Conroy answered by saying that MassDOT has completed preliminary designs for that new station entrance, but the MBTA needs additional funding to build it.
"[It] is not funded at this time," he said.
Without that entrance, Orange Line riders will need to take an eight- to 12-minute detour by walking north to cross under the rail tracks at Artisan Way, then head south again across Draw Seven Park to the bridge landing.
On the Everett side, plans call for the pedestrian bridge to touch down at the end of the peninsula where the Northern Strand Trail meets the Encore Casino Harbor Walk.
MassDOT plans to pursue a "design-build" contract for the bridge's construction. The agency aims to solicit construction bids next spring to begin construction by the fall of 2026.
Under that building method, MassDOT would establish technical requirements for the new bridge, but contractors would be allowed some flexibility in design details and construction techniques in hopes of delivering the bridge on a faster timeline and/or at a lower cost.
The state agency has estimated that the project will cost $62 million to build.
