Mass. DCR to Begin $1.5 Million Safety Upgrades to Memorial Drive Monday

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will begin a $1.5 million road safety construction project on Monday along a stretch of Memorial Drive that has long been considered unsafe for cyclists, according to DCR commissioner Brian M. Arrigo.

The improvements come less than two weeks after bicyclist John H. Corcoran ’84 was killed by an oncoming SUV which swerved onto the sidewalk and struck him as he biked west along Memorial Drive toward the Boston University Bridge.

The DCR faced criticism after Corcoran’s death from local officials and activists, who said the agency dragged their heels on making improvements to the area — a stretch by the BU Bridge that had been the subject of years of safety warnings.

The agency’s planned improvements include restriping sidewalks to include green paint for bike crossing, reducing the speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per hour along the BU Bridge corridor, and building a 12-foot-wide raised bike and pedestrian path along the river. The new safety updates, which the DCR first announced following Corcoran’s death, will span Memorial Drive from Magazine Street to Audrey Street via the BU Bridge rotary.

“Next week, we are breaking ground on more than one million dollars in safety upgrades for pedestrians and cyclists along Memorial Drive, underscoring our commitment to ensuring our parkways are safe and accessible for all travelers,” Arrigo wrote in an emailed statement.

The DCR has also said they are interested in a long-term redesign of the drive.

During the construction, which is expected to last until Nov. 26, the DCR will be closing lanes and implementing detours along the stretch of Memorial Drive.

State Representative Mike L. Connolly celebrated the project in a Friday statement.

“Thank you to DCR for working with us on these changes, efforts that date back to last year and build on years of local advocacy,” Connolly wrote. “Thank you as well to the activists and residents who continue to call for safety upgrades along Memorial Drive, a call made all the more urgent in the wake of the tragic killing of John Corcoran by the driver of a Mercedes SUV last week.”

But not everyone is satisfied with how the plan came to be.

Chris A. Cassa, an assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School and a volunteer with Cambridge Bicycle Safety said that while he is “relieved” that the DCR is updating safety on Memorial Drive, it took far too long.

“It’s heartbreaking that despite decades of advocacy, it took yet another tragic death to spur action,” Cassa said.

Clyve Lawrence ’25-’27, a transit activist and member of the Memorial Drive Alliance — an advocacy group dedicated to improving the parkway for pedestrian and cyclist use — wrote in a statement that while he was “glad” to see the improvement, it was “still disappointing that these changes occur after someone is killed.”

“DCR must be more proactive, listening to advocates and community members to make the entire riverfront safe and accessible,” added Lawrence, a Crimson Editorial editor.

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @asherjmont or on Threads @asher_montgomery.

—Staff writer Avani B. Rai can be reached at avani.rai@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @avaniiiirai.