City To Revamp Harvard Square Roads, Sidewalks

A signal will be added to the crosswalk by Johnston Gate and the “super crosswalk” between the Coop and Out of Town News will almost double in size in a $3.5 million street-scaping project slated to begin this July in Harvard Square.

The 18-month-long project­—the first major road project in the Square since the Red Line was extended in the 1980s—will also reconstruct parts of JFK, Palmer, Church, and Winthrop Streets and add new street lamps.

“A number of roadways are in need of reconstruction,” said Kathy Watkins of the city’s Community Development Department, who is overseeing the project. “We are looking at making basic infrastructure improvements.”

The project is the result of three years of meetings by the Harvard Square Design Committee, which included former Undergraduate Council President Rohit Chopra ’04.

Six locations in the heart of the Square will be targeted in the initial phase of construction.

In addition to the crosswalks by the Coop and by Johnston Gate, plans show that a landscaped pedestrian island will be constructed on Mount Auburn Street in front of the Harvard Lampoon building.

The sidewalk in front of the Loews movie theater on Church Street will also be enlarged.

John DiGiovanni, president of the Harvard Square Business Association and a member of the design committee, said that the committee looked at Harvard Square on a “very case-by-case and street-by-street” basis.

The committee prioritized a number of areas around the Square in need of work.

If all the committee’s recommendations are implemented, the cost of the entire project will reach $13 million. However, only $3.5 million has been appropriated by the city so far to fund the work at the first six sites.

DiGiovanni, the owner of Trinity Property Management, which owns the Palmer Street Coop Building, said that he and five other property owners had also agreed to privately fund a $300,000 makeover of Palmer Street, the cobblestoned alley nestled between the two Harvard Coop buildings.

“When we’re done it will be one of the most photographed areas of Harvard Square,” DiGiovanni said.

As part of the project, the city will fund the reconstruction of Palmer Street to “create a shared street—a street where pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers all share the street space,” according to a project update released by the design committee last month.

The private owners will revamp the sides of the streets with metal-covered columns, banners, and screens on the bridge that connects the two Coop buildings.

That plan, designed by Jody Pinto, who was the Cogan Visiting Artist at Harvard’s Office for the Arts last year, calls for one side of the bridge to be used as a screen to display movies and for the other side of the screen to light up depending on where pedestrians walk on the street.

DiGiovanni said that the revamped street could be used for performance events.

Thomas J. Lucey, Harvard’s director of community relations for Cambridge, said that it was “fantastic news” that the city would invest in improving the pedestrian experience in the Square.

“Harvard participated in the process [in our position] as stakeholders in the Square,” he said. “Our interests mirrored that of residents and businesses. We want it to be a safe experience, particularly for pedestrians.”

According to Watkins, construction at the six sites will proceed in phases so that the impact on the Square’s traffic can be minimized.

DiGiovanni said that although the construction would be an inconvenience for local businesses, the improvements would benefit them in the long-run.

“It’s a tough area to do these improvements,” he said. “You can’t do this without disruption. It’s not going to be easy but it’ll be worth it.”

Watkins said that a contractor will be hired for the project in May.

—Staff writer Joseph M. Tartakoff can be reached at tartakof@fas.harvard.edu.