The bicycle and pedestrian span would provide a direct link between the Encore Casino and the Northern Strand Trail on the northern banks of the Mystic River in Everett to the Assembly Square neighborhood and its Orange Line station in Somerville, on the southern bank. (Mass.gov rendering)

A new motor vehicle-free bridge to connect the Boston suburbs of Everett and Somerville over the Mystic River is on schedule to begin construction in 2024, according to Massachusetts officials.

The elegantly designed bicycle and pedestrian span would provide a direct link between the Encore Casino and the Northern Strand Trail on the northern banks of the Mystic River in Everett to the Assembly Square neighborhood and its Orange Line station in Somerville, on the southern bank.

In the fall of 2021, former Gov. Charlie Baker committed funding to finish designing and permitting the bridge, StreetsblogMASS, reported June 20.

However, there had been no public updates on the bridge since then. Last year, the federal government declined to fund the project from its competitive RAISE grant program.

During MassTrails grant announcements in Billerica in mid-June, StreetsblogMASS asked Kurt Gaetner, assistant secretary for environmental policy at the Commonwealth's Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, for an update on the Mystic River bridge project.

Gaetner promised an answer before following up with an email to the online news service on June 16.

In it he confirmed that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) continue to make "good progress" on the design and permitting of the Mystic River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge.

"We are on schedule for the project to go out to bid at the end of the calendar year," Gaetner wrote.

Bridge proponents — particularly the Encore Casino — had also hoped for cooperation from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to build a new Assembly station entrance on the east side of the Orange Line tracks to provide a direct walking connection from the light rail line to the new bridge.

The current Assembly station's entrances are all situated to the west of the MBTA Orange Line tracks, facing the Assembly Row development, StreetsblogMASS noted.

The MBTA's latest Capital Investment Plan, though, a five-year budget for upcoming construction projects, does not include any projects for the Assembly station.

That means that even though the Somerville end of the new bridge will land right next to the Assembly station, MBTA riders will only be able to get there by walking a half-mile out of their way to cross under the Orange Line at Artisan Way.

A new Mystic River bike and pedestrian bridge is seen by the state, and the two cities, as a major missing link in the regional greenways network.

At the time of former Gov. Baker's announcement, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, a longtime champion of the bridge proposal, said that with the completion of the river crossing, "we'll finally have access to our waterfront and to [MBTA] stations, and finally have true equity in the city of Everett."

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