These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City Calendar and in the city’s Open Meetings Portal.
Another zigzag on Garden Street
City Council, 5:30 p.m. Monday. Garden Street in West Cambridge got bidirectional bike lanes in October 2022 that would have made the roadway a tight, dangerous squeeze if two-way car traffic and parking were all kept – so several blocks saw a change to one-way car traffic toward Harvard Square. After much unhappiness, including from residents on side streets who were suddenly seeing more traffic, councillors agreed unanimously in December 2024 to ask that staff restore Garden Street’s two-way car traffic while keeping the two-way protected bike lanes and as much parking as possible. (The council wanted to see analysis and implementation options no later that April 1, 2025, but this did not happen.) Sixteen months later, with that reversal not implemented, councillors Ayah Al-Zubi and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler ask that any work toward undoing the Garden Street changes stop, because staff analysis continues to suggest the changes are pointless and would cause new problems. It is also perhaps too costly at a time Cambridge is trying to save money, they suggest, asserting it “would require substantial additional capital beyond the initial estimate and operating work.” Past discussions of Garden Street changes have brought dozens of residents to implore the council in one direction or another, resulting in hours of public comment.
There is also concern about the decision-making process behind installing artificial turf on Ahern Field, which is part of the former Kennedy-Longfellow School at 158 Spring St., East Cambridge. The 220-student school serving prekindergarteners through fifth graders was closed at the end of 2025 to resolve a systemic problem resulting in a disproportionate number of high-needs students and low test scores. The campus is expected to reopen this year with improvements and a new purpose, and the field is proposed to get improvements for use by people of all ages, including new lighting, renovated basketball and hockey/pickleball courts, seating and gathering spaces. In regard to the turf, councillor Patty Nolan wants to hear “what process was taken to ensure community concerns and public health considerations were fully addressed, and to ensure that construction will not move forward until a report is delivered.”
The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Massive energy project underway
Conservation Commission, 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Residents get a look at the Eversource Greater Energy Project, which is intended to a meet a growing demand for power from residential and commercial development and reduced use fossil fuels in new buildings. This transmission initiative puts a lot of infrastructure underground and out of sight – including the largest underground substation in the country, 11 stories deep in Kendall Square – and run power lines under the Charles River from Magazine Beach in Cambridgeport. The transmission routes connect substations in Cambridge, Somerville and Allston-Brighton with construction that began Jan. 28, 2025, and is expected to end in 2031. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
‘Beyond Urban Renewal’ talk
Panel discussion, 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Experts talk about “Retooling Redevelopment Authorities to Create Social Housing in Massachusetts,” a possible next step for quasi-governmental bodies created in the mid-20th century to carry out urban renewal projects through federal and state programs. These agencies might be uniquely positioned to help cities and towns promote social housing – mixed-income developments in which the public sector holds a lasting ownership stake. This event presents the findings of a study paid for by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, Cambridge Community Foundation and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. Watchable via livestream.
Green priorities and projects
Health & Environment Committee, noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillor Patty Nolan gets an update from the city’s Office of Sustainability on priorities and initiatives. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Redoing Inman Street
Inman Street Reconstruction Project, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Inman Street between Hampshire Street and Broadway is included in the city’s five-year plan for sidewalk and street reconstruction, and utility work begins here in the coming months. Catch up on the details in-person at Inman and Hampshire streets, Inman Square.
New at Gold Star Mothers park
Community meeting, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Environmental tests of soil beneath the former basketball court in this park found contaminants, and follow-up tests found them throughout – a complication for renovations. This meeting gives an update on the overall project with next steps on remediation, design and construction, and includes details about reopening a tot lot. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Multi-income home development
Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The board designates Ascent Dev as developer for 2326 Massachusetts Ave., North Cambridge. The site is to be turned into a mixed-income homeownership project with the offer of a low-interest construction loan for 80 percent of the total development costs. In The Pioneer Room at Google Kendall Square, 355 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge, and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
37 Brookline St. project update
Community meeting, 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday. The nonprofit developer Just A Start talks about an all-affordable rental project at 37 Brookline St. This was a 1907 home lived in by the outsider artist Peter Valentine until his death in 2022 and once known as Cosmic Moose & Grizzly Bear’s Ville. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
This post was updated April 16 to remove a reference to social housing.
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