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By Joseph A. Curtatone

While the Encore Casino has been open and operating for several months now, the discussion about a transportation link between Somerville and Everett has recently reignited after Encore leadership floated the idea of gondola over the Mystic River. Somerville has been clear about our vision for accessibility and connectivity around the Lower Mystic basin, but we’ve had serious concerns about a footbridge connecting our community to the then-proposed casino. With the new proposal, now is a good time to think holistically about our region’s transportation needs.

My vision for the Lower Mystic basin is simple: a complete, continuous network of safe walking and bicycling routes along and across our river. For 20 years I’ve worked in partnership with activists and advocates, state agencies and municipalities, nonprofit and for-profit entities to achieve this vision. And as a region, we’ve made great progress in the last few years.

Thanks to Governor Baker and his administration, our region received nearly $14 million to complete the Northern Strand/Bike to the Sea Trail, which currently runs from just beyond the casino in Everett, through Malden, Revere, Saugus, and to the Lynn line. The planned extension will extend the trail through Lynn to Nahant Beach. Last year MassDOT completed high quality biking and walking trails on the Woods Memorial Bridge (Route 16) over the Malden River.

In 2018 the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) rehabilitated the paths at MacDonald Park in Medford. And in 2020 we should see the completion of the MBTA/DCR pathway connecting the Alford Street Bridge (Route 99) to Draw 7 State Park in Somerville. And I continue to advocate for protected bike facilities on the Wellington Bridge (Route 28) that connects Somerville to our partner communities and open spaces along the Mystic River.

Given how much work has been done to improve regional bike and pedestrian infrastructure, now is the time to revisit the need for a footbridge between Draw 7 State Park in Somerville and the Northern Strand trail in Everett. Many years ago, advocates suggested the need for a pedestrian/bicycle river crossing in this area to support a future path network. At that time, there was no development happening on the Everett side of the river in this area, and limited funding available for the project.

Then the casino came. I’ll admit that I was skeptical and even opposed when Encore suggested building a footbridge connecting the Assembly Square Orange Line stop with the casino. At the time, it would have mainly served as an amenity for the casino – an easy way to get people from the MBTA to the gambling floor. But with more connections built out, the footbridge wouldn’t just funnel transit riders to Encore; it would be an important link in a regional transit network.

So how do we make it happen?

There’s a lot to be said for private investment in public infrastructure. In Assembly Square, Somerville’s private sector partners not only helped build the MBTA Orange Line station, they helped construct the magnificent boardwalk connection under the Route 28/Wellington Bridge, the Baxter State Park pathways, and the path from Sullivan Square to Great River Road. I’m not about to pretend that the folks at Assembly made this investments purely altruistically, but we were able to work with them to get improvements that were good for them and good for Somerville.

Encore could be a partner too. I’m no fan of the gaming economy, but the voters of Massachusetts spoke at the ballot box and my side was forced to focus on mitigating the impacts of the new casino. Among many mitigation measures required of the developer, they were required initiate a design process for a walking and bicycling bridge that connects Everett to Somerville.

Encore has gone much further than was required of them, which I applaud. They paid to complete the design of an elegant, useful bridge structure that would serve the entire region. They performed complex permitting tasks and have secured more than a dozen federal, state and local permits for the bridge construction. They shared these designs at public meetings, and received rounds of applause from our residents and stakeholders.

Hopefully, we can work together to make that plan a reality. If Encore again wants to go above and beyond and also build an aerial gondola in addition to the footbridge, that wouldn’t be a bad thing. But my priority will always remain transportation solutions that benefit the entire region, not just the casino.

Our region needs the bridge to be constructed, and we need it now. We can figure this out. I’m calling for our public and private stakeholders to focus on the bridge in 2020, to articulate a funding strategy, and to continue the generational progress we’ve made in the Lower Mystic communities.