Opening the Cage

American cities can tend to lag behind Europe both in their continued reliance on the car as a primary means of urban transportation, and in the realisation that civic structures such as footbridges can successfully create new urban landmarks. In a political environment which tends to favour utilitarian caged bridges for pedestrians over more elegant and expressive structures, this paper will describe the solutions adopted by an integrated international design team to eschew mundane standard US bridging solutions in favour of a visually exciting structure that is intrinsically expressive of its unique urban context. Prepared by the bridge architect, the paper will concentrate on visual and spatial aspects of the proposals as opposed to technical engineering detail.

Weaving below an adjacent rail viaduct and above the Mystic River in northern Boston MA, the footbridge will provide a link between the communities of Everett and Somerville as part of an evolving commuter cycle network. The whole crossing has been conceived as an open and inviting environment - an unfolding pedestrian experience with ever-changing vistas. Design work was started in 2017 with the 75% design stage reached in mid-2019. The bridge was granted funding in October 2021 and at the point of writing this paper, construction is slated to commence by 2023.

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