Medford, Mass. plans improvements to Main Street intersections to increase safety for pedestrians, bikes and drivers. The project includes separated bike lanes, narrowed roadways and enhanced pedestrian crossings, with community input driving revisions to initial designs. Construction set for late spring 2026.
MassDOT map
An overhead map of the upcoming changes.
Nearly a year after its last public information meeting, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) shared a new draft design for Main Street in Medford at an April 23, 2025 public hearing.
The proposed work is a result of the number of high-crash intersections in downtown Medford where Main Street intersects with the eastbound on- and off-ramps to Massachusetts Highway 16/Mystic Valley Parkway.
In fact, the intersection of Main Street with South Street and the Mass. 16 eastbound on-and-off ramps was the site of 78 reported collisions between 2017 and 2019, the state's 38th-highest crash location.
It also happens that this is one of the few ways for pedestrians and bikes to access Medford Square from the southern side of the Mystic River, according to Streetsblog Mass in a May 9, 2025 report.
In 2021, MassDOT installed interim improvements such as repainted lane markings and temporary barricades at the intersection of Main and South Streets; now, the state agency and the city are taking on longer-term improvements for the community.
The project aims to reconstruct Main Street's high-crash intersections with Mass. 16's westbound and eastbound ramps, and to its junctions with Mystic Avenue and Emerson Street.
MassDOT's plans also call for realigning Main Street to encourage safe speeds and improve pedestrian and bike visibility, resurfacing and restriping the roadway, reconstructing sidewalks and curb ramps, and creating separated and buffered bike lanes for cyclist safety.
In addition, the work also would connect Main Street to a planned Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation path along the southern bank of the Mystic River.
Ultimately, the roadway project's goals are to improve safety for people walking, biking and driving in this area of suburban Boston, as well as improve intersection connections for people walking and biking, and maintain acceptable traffic operations.
Community Had Its Say in MassDOT's Latest Design
Following original ideas to reconstruct the area while keeping the Mass. 16/Mystic Valley Parkway highway overpass over Main Street, the newly drafted design proposals are in, according to Streetsblog Mass.
The original proposal for Main Street and the westbound ramps on the Mystic riverbank included a five-lane roadway cross-section under the Mystic Valley Parkway overpass, 11-ft. travel lanes and shared-use paths on both sides of the roadway.
Now, the plan has been revised to feature a four-lane roadway cross section under the overpass, as well as narrower, 10-ft.-6-in. travel lanes and raised bike lanes separated from pedestrian sidewalks.
South of the overpass, at the intersection with South Street and the eastbound Mystic Valley Parkway ramps, the 2024 proposal featured a "Green-Tee" (a specialized intersection design for three-way/T-shaped intersections), shared-use paths on both sides of the roadway and a zigzagging, multi-stage crosswalk over Main Street.
After community input and advocacy, however, the new proposal calls for a full three-way signalized intersection, completely separate pedestrian sidewalks and bicycle lanes, direct crosswalks across Main Street, and a center island pedestrian refuge.
As for the intersection with Mystic Avenue and Emerson Street, the proposal calls for buffered bike lanes, a new crosswalk, widened sidewalks, a new left-turn lane on the northbound side of Mystic Avenue and a new refuge island on Union Street.
The design of these intersections has not substantively changed compared to the proposal MassDOT presented in 2024.
Medford's Advocates for Walkers, Cyclists Are Happy
Ellery Klein of WalkMedford expressed appreciation that the design had evolved with better prioritization of the safety of vulnerable road users, including people walking and biking.
Advocates were "dismayed" by the first plan, she said, feeling as though the MassDOT was simply trying to expand the roadways and push everyone else to the edges on a "shared" 10-ft.-wide sidewalk.
"People are walking dogs, and they're getting in the way of the bikes," Klein said. "And people have children and e-bikes, and pedestrians don't want to be sharing their space."
Besides commending the raising of bike lanes, the tightening of some intersections and narrowing the corner of the intersection, she also praised the acknowledgement and need for equity in these plans.
As for the future impact on the area, Klein noted that the 96 bus route, as part of the bus network redesign, will be running at a higher frequency, connecting Malden Station to Tufts Station to Davis Square. Still, she wonders if transit was adequately considered in the Medford road redesign.
Klein also advocated for a more "top-down" approach to planning, where transit, parks and highway agencies would work together to encourage increased biking, walking and safer driving, as well as opening up more space along the Mystic River.
Ultimately, she thinks the work is meeting the needs of the road users.
"We've all been in meetings where they're like, ‘We listened to what you had to say, and we don't care.' And it really did feel like they really did listen and change a lot of stuff," Klein said. "Lots of good things are happening."
Medford's Main Street Intersection Improvements project still has a number of steps ahead, Streetsblog Mass reported. Among them are a Local Traffic Commission Meeting this summer, finalizing the design and advertising the project for construction in the late spring of 2026.
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