A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on the Gore Street construction project

City of Cambridge Department of Public Works Owen O'Riordan, Commissioner 147 Hampshire Street Cambridge, MA 02139 theworks@cambridgema.gov Voice: [phone removed] TDD: [phone removed] January 16, 2018 To: Louis DePasquale City Manager From: Katherine F. Watkins, City Engineer Re: Awaiting Report 17-116, dated October 23, 2017 Gore Street In response to the council order regarding Gore Street, staff report the following: GORE STREET SEWER CONSTRUCTION: A new city sewer main will be constructed on Gore Street, between O’Brien Highway and Medford Street in Somerville. Construction is expected to begin in March 2018 and continue through the 2018 construction season. Following the sewer construction, the City will reconstruct the streets and sidewalks; replace the over 100-year 8” water main; and work with Eversource Gas to replace their over 100-year old 6” gas main. All of this work will be permitted and overseen by the Department of Public Works. The new sewer main is being constructed by Divco West to service the sewer flows from the Cambridge Crossing (North Point) development. The contractor constructing the new sewer main on Gore Street, J. Derenzo, anticipates beginning construction later this year and will have 2 to 3 crews on Gore Street. During sewer construction, Divco West will implement a Construction Mitigation Program to manage construction, mitigate parking impacts and respond to questions or concerns. They will be reaching out to abutting property owners to schedule pre-construction surveys and can be reached at [email removed] or by phone at [phone removed]. For more information, please visit the project website www.npconstruction.info. PERMITTING PROCESS: All of the sewage flows in Cambridge are sent to Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) interceptors and ultimately to the MWRA Deer Island Facility for treatment. The MWRA approves new sewer connections to their system; as well as significant new sewer flows. The MWRA evaluates these connections and sewer flows based on their ability to manage their regional system; while also maintaining their commitment to reducing combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the Charles River and other waterbodies.

The permitting for the Cambridge Crossing project, including how to provide utility service, has been on- going for nearly 20 years. Cambridge Crossing submitted a state Environmental Notification Form in 2001 and the State Executive Office of Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) issued a certificate on the project on December 16, 2002. As part of that submission, sewage from Cambridge Crossing was to be directed to the MWRA’s Cambridge Branch Sewer along Gore Street. The City and the developer requested that the MWRA evaluate the feasibility of directing flows to the Charlestown Branch Sewer via the Prison Point Facility, as it would be a more direct connection to the MWRA interceptor system. Unfortunately, the MWRA was unable to approve the use of the Charlestown Branch Sewer and Prison Point. There were two main issues that they identified. The first is that Prison Point is a wet weather facility and is not intended for significant dry weather sewer flows. The proposed flows could exceed their dry weather pumping capacity and compromise the MWRA’s ability to meet their discharge requirements associated with their EPA permit. The other issue is that the MWRA system has dry weather capacity issues downstream of Prison Point in the Charlestown Branch Sewer and cannot support the additional flow. For these reasons, the MWRA would not approve the Charlestown Branch Sewer via Prison Point connection as an alternative to the Cambridge Branch Sewer via Gore Street alignment for the new city sewer main. Residents have inquired about Msgr. O’Brien Highway as an alternative to Gore Street. Two O’Brien Highway routes have been identified; 1. Water Street to Msgr. O’Brien Highway to Sciarappa St to Gore St to Medford St 2. Water Street to Msgr. O’Brien Highway to Medford St There are some concerns specific to each alternative, but overall neither alternative is viable. Both routes • increase the length of the new city sewer main (25% to 35%). This will significantly

increase the construction duration and impacts; as well as the long-term maintenance requirements. • require a significant portion (25% to 85%) of city infrastructure to be located on a high- volume state controlled roadway. o This will increase the construction impacts on the community, as work hours will be limited (further increasing the duration of the construction) and traffic disruption will be significant. o It also compromises the City’s long-term maintenance of the city infrastructure. The City doesn’t control the right-of-way and would need state permits for future construction. Significant traffic management plans would be required for future maintenance and construction and the state would limit the hours of access; hindering our ability to maintain and operate the system. In addition to these concerns, the first alternative (Water St to Msgr. O’Brien Highway to Sciarappa St to Gore St to Medford St) does not significantly decrease the impact on residential streets, as Gore St is still used for a portion of the route and Sciarappa St is impacted. The second alternative (Water St to Msgr. O’Brien Highway to Medford St) requires the majority of the City’s sewer main to be located in Somerville, which is not appropriate for construction impacts nor long-term operations and maintenance. Therefore, Msgr. O’Brien Highway is not a viable route for this City infrastructure. GORE STREET RECONSTRUCTION: Following the completion of the sewer work, the street and sidewalks on Gore Street will be reconstructed. This is an opportunity to incorporate improvements into Gore Street; sidewalks, crosswalks, street trees, improved access to the park, etc. Divco West will be funding these improvements ($2,700,000) and the design and construction of these will be managed by city staff. The City will be hosting a community design process in the fall of 2018 to work with residents to determine what, if any, changes should be made to Gore Street. The enhancements will include: • new Eversource gas main to replace the over 100-year old 6” main • new water main to replace the 8” water main originally installed in 1874. The water work will include the replacement of any lead services. • full-depth roadway paving • fully ADA compliant sidewalks • additional street trees COMMUNITY MEETINGS: The City and Divco West hosted a community meeting on September 28, 2017 to review the scope of the work, the anticipated schedule, and answer community questions. The presentation from that meeting is available on the city’s website. Additional community meetings will be scheduled as construction progresses and to begin the community design process for the street and sidewalk improvements on Gore Street. Residents wanting to join the email distribution list for this project should email Dan Rivello (driviello@cambridgema.gov) or visit http://bit.ly/GoreSt to join.