Project Overview
The Mount Auburn Street Project will transform the corridor into a "Complete Street."
A Complete Street provides safe and accessible options for all travel modes - walking, biking, driving, and transit - for people of all ages and abilities. Read more about the latest design recommendations.
Project Goals & Benefits
Safer travel for all modes
Increased efficiency on the MBTA Bus Route 71 (trackless trolley)
More efficient traffic operations
Improved pedestrian and bicycle accommodations
Accessibility and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Reconstructed roadway following modern pavement standards
Reduced stormwater runoff
Improved aesthetics
Project Background
The transformation of Mount Auburn Street into a Complete Street has been a priority for the City of Watertown since 2007, when it began a series of public workshops and conceptual designs for the Coolidge Square business district. The project area was soon extended to include Mount Auburn Street from the Cambridge City line to Patten Street.
Mount Auburn Street is an approximately 2-mile-long urban principal arterial connecting Watertown Square on the west with the City of Cambridge on the east. Land use along the corridor is medium-density commercial and residential. The roadway travels through the Coolidge Square business district and past Watertown High School and Hosmer Elementary School. The roadway, which is under City jurisdiction but carries State Route 16, was last reconstructed by MassHighway (now MassDOT) as an Urban Systems project in the early 1980s with little regard to users other than through-traffic.
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) was initiated by MassDOT in 2007 with $12.2 million dedicated to redesigning and constructing Mount Auburn Street. The Mount Auburn Street Complete Streets project continues to rank very high in the competitive TIP program. During the 2022 program, funding was split between FY 2023 and 2024 to reflect the fiscal timing of the project. A FY 2023 funding year could allow the project to begin construction in Fall 2023 . MassDOT hosted a 25% Design Public Hearing for the project in November 2021.