Assembly Square Neighborhood Plan | Somerville, MA

Project Status: Plan Under Review

The City of Somerville commissioned a team to update the 2000 Planning Study and plan Assembly Square’s ultimate state as a walkable, attractive, livable, and sustainable part of the City’s interconnected fabric. The planning team included Dover, Kohl & Partners, Street Plans, Howard Stein Hudson, Daedalus, and Zanetta Illustration. 

Street Plans was tasked with developing the mobility chapter of the document, and leading virtual workshops with Assembly Square property owners and prospective businesses about their vision for mobility and how to best meet the needs of the local community. The mobility chapter proposes context-sensitive active transportation infrastructure for Assembly Square and for important corridors that connect it to the greater Somerville area.

The plan addresses the current needs of Somerville while proposing policies, processes, and infrastructure for the future. This means envisioning great new places that are compatible and respectful of the surrounding city fabric. The Illustrative Plan shows how these places might develop by depicting the proposed multimodal roadways, buildings, alleys, parking locations, and open spaces of a full future build-out of the Assembly Square Neighborhood. 

Street Plans also established priority areas within the plan to demonstrate how changes in the right-of-way can help provide greater options for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. The proposed recommendations for the priority areas detail how to improve connectivity to the neighborhood and create easier and safer ways for residents and visitors to reach their destinations. These changes include tightening curb radii, right-sizing streets, and improving pedestrian visibility at crossings.

The Assembly Square Neighborhood Plan is currently under review by the City of Somerville.