| Newsletter #20
June 28, 2022 |
Alewife Zoning Working Group to meet June 29
The Cambridge Community Development Department is organizing a working group to recommend the rules for development projects in the Alewife area. The main focus will be in the area between the commuter rail tracks and Fresh Pond. One developer recently bought nearly 3/4 billion dollars of properties to make a large collection of office and lab buildings in that area. Part of the focus of the discussion will be to connect the new development with Alewife Station, which will also allow North Cambridge residents to more easily get to the new businesses. The area needs good planning to make sure flooding, traffic, sewer, and extreme heat impacts are properly handled. Mike Nakagawa is representing the Alewife Study Group at the monthly working group meetings, with six meetings expected. Click here for the City’s project webpage.
Sewage Pollution meeting on June 29 – focus on Alewife Brook
The United States government (EPA) is making Cambridge come up with a plan to make the Alewife Brook cleaner by preventing raw sewage (such as from toilets) from spilling into the brook during heavy rainstorms because of our very old sewer system. The following is from the Save the Alewife Brook (StAB) coalition that has been following the issue.
“Last year, 51 million gallons of raw sewage pollution was dumped into the Alewife Brook by Somerville, Cambridge, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). This is the same volume of sewage pollution as they dumped in 1994, before any improvements were made as part of the Boston Harbor Cleanup.
By law, Cambridge, Somerville, and the MWRA must now begin planning upgrades to improve water quality and reduce sewage pollution. They are holding their first public meeting via Zoom to discuss planning of future sewage pollution control measures.”
The meeting date is Wednesday June 29th at 6 PM.
Register HERE for June 29 meeting
Click here for Meeting Talking Points
IQHQ Updates including demolition and constructions starts
You may have noticed that work has started on the IQHQ site. Official approval of the agreements with the City are expected soon, so IQHQ is starting to prepare the site and is doing some inside work. They will be posting their plans on a website that will be updated as the project progresses. We will keep you informed when the website is available.
As of now, ASG has posted IQHQ’s final June and draft July construction plans in the New section of our website. Click HERE to see them. The final July plans and draft August plans will also be posted very soon.
For July, IQHQ plans to put up a fence around the property and changes to Whittemore Ave. for safety reasons. They will also put up a tent near the end of Harvey St. for some temporary electrical equipment and will cut off and cap the natural gas pipes at the end of Harvey St.
IQHQ will knock down the first buildings – their main older building and a small one one Whittemore Ave. – in August. Note that the two newer buildings on Whittemore Ave. nearest the Parkway will not be knocked down, but they will make some changes on the outsides of these two buildings.
ASG Newsletter
ASG will send email updates about once a month during this busy time in the development of the IQHQ site.
Click here for previous ASG Newsletters
Anyone can sign up (or unsubscribe) for this newsletter by completing the Contact Form at the bottom of the ASG home page: alewife.org We also welcome your questions, comments, ideas, and offers of help!