MassDOT: Replace McGrath Highaway With a Boulevard

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation recommends tearing down McGrath Highway and replacing it with a six-lane ground-level boulevard.

That's according to a draft of the final version of a report called, "Grounding McGrath: Determining the Future of the Route 28 Corridor Study."

The report is the result of more than two years of study by MassDOT and the Grounding McGrath working group, composed of elected officials, local advocates, designers and various state and local officials.

The report, which you can find here, studied various alternatives for the future of McGrath Highway, including leaving it as is, building a roadway with rotaries and U-turn traffic features, building a main thoroughfare with access roads for local traffic, and building a boulevard.

The report says replacing the McGrath Highway, a rusty elevated roadway, with a boulevard would have a number of benefits, including the following: 

• It would contribute to a Complete Streets design that would benefit pedestrians, bikes and cars
• It would improve traffic at some intersections
• It would improve the urban environment for the neighboring communities
• It would enhance pedestrian access