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Poll results

The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Board will soon begin a study assessing redesign options for the Vernon Street Bridge over Interstate 290 in an effort to connect the Worcester neighborhoods that sit on either side. The project aims to bolster mobility and access, which target community goals including affordable housing and expanded park space, and multimodal safety improvements to reduce conflicts between vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. So far, the project has received $125,000 in funding from the planning board in addition to $625,000 in state and federal commitments.

Should more be done to connect Worcester neighborhoods separated by I-290?
Poll Description

The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Board will soon begin a study assessing redesign options for the Vernon Street Bridge over Interstate 290 in an effort to connect the Worcester neighborhoods that sit on either side. The project aims to bolster mobility and access, which target community goals including affordable housing and expanded park space, and multimodal safety improvements to reduce conflicts between vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. So far, the project has received $125,000 in funding from the planning board in addition to $625,000 in state and federal commitments.

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1 Comments

  • June 2, 2025

    I think severing the East Side from Downtown Worcester was one of the worst and apparently thoughtless - though perhaps intentional - highway-design decisions ever made. Thank goodness the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Board will soon begin a study assessing redesign options for the Vernon Street Bridge over I-290 in an effort to connect the Worcester neighborhoods that sit on either side.

    I also think another one of the worst highway-design decisions ever made was to curve sharply the I-290 bridge near Holy Cross, over Southbridge Street, and then, in a very short distance, curve I-290 back in the other direction, causing that portion of I-290 to collapse in 1968. The collapse of the I-290 bridge, which had not yet been opened to traffic, killed three people and injured eight others.

    According to a 2023 Telegram & Gazettte article by [Staff reporter Craig S. Semon], "On May 28, 1958, state Public Works Commissioner Anthony N. DiNatale said the College of the Holy Cross would lose a chunk of Fitton Field to make way for [a I-290 bridge over Southbridge Street]. ... [C]ollege authorities said they would rather have the expressway go around the field rather than through it.

    "For the [1973 T&G] series, [then-Staff Reporter Everett] Skehan took a ride along the highway with two associate professors of civil engineering from WPI. As the combination think tank/carpool approached Fitton Field, the two civil engineers complained how the road began to curve sharply and then, in a very short distance, curved back in the other direction.

    “'You don’t usually see a reverse curve in a major highway,' said [then-]associate professor Richard W. Lamothe. 'The design is deficient, something you wouldn’t expect. Still, it would probably meet design standards.'

    "When the car hit the first curve, it tilted as the road banked to give stability to the fast-moving traffic. Then when it quickly came upon the next curve, the car tilted in the opposite direction almost like a rocking boat, Skehan wrote. 

    “'There’s a lot more to many of these things than meets the eye,' [then-]associate professor Richard D. Desrosier said. 'The Holy Cross curve isn’t there because the design engineer wanted it that way. I’m sure he had to do it to satisfy someone.'"

    Hmm. I wonder who that "someone" was.

    To read Semon's entire 2023 T&G article, visit https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/worcester/2023/04/13/worceste….