By Tréa Lavery | TLavery@masslive.com
Cyclists and pedestrians could one day have a safe and easy way to cross the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge, without worrying about cars.

The Museum of Science, located on the historic Charles River dam between the two cities, is working with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation on a proposal for a car-free connection across the river, StreetsBlogMASS reported Friday. Though the project is still in the preliminary design phase, it would provide a connection between existing bike and pedestrian paths on either side of the waterway.

In a feasibility study the museum completed in December 2023, designers from the planning firm VHB wrote that the project would create a “safe, equitable and accessible path between” Boston and Cambridge.

“The proposed connection at the Museum is not only an opportunity to reconnect the Charles River Basin recreational network, but also an opportunity to recreate a major public landscape connection between the two cities after well over half a century,” they wrote.

Museum of Science bridge proposal
A conceptual artist's rendering of the Museum of Science's proposed bicycle and pedestrian connection across the Charles River.Museum of Science
The conceptual design proposed in the feasibility study includes the addition of three islands, or “stepping stones,” linked by boardwalks. Two new bridges would connect the entire network to a park alongside the Lechmere Canal on the Cambridge side of the river and the Charles River Esplanade on the Boston side.

The bridge on the Boston side would be a ‘movable’ bridge that could be opened to allow taller boats through.

In addition to the transportation connection, the three islands would provide opportunities for educational programming and outdoor events for the museum. They would include native plants, “attracting wildlife and ... educating and informing visitors about the natural riverine landscape of New England,” according to the feasibility study.

Museum President Tim Ritchie told StreetsBlogMASS that the design was likely to change and evolve as the project progresses due to financial and engineering limitations.

The feasibility study estimated that the project could take up to a decade to complete and cost $302 million.

MassDOT told StreetsBlogMASS that it would first initiate engagement with stakeholders and seek out funding sources before establishing a project timeline.