Accommodations 

• Bicycle Lanes currently exist throughout Somerville to promote bicycle traffic by increasing visibility and safety. Such lanes can be found on Broadway between Teele Square and Cedar Street, on Beacon Street from Oxford Street to Inman Square, and on Willow Avenue from Elm Street to Highland Avenue. Somerville also displays sharrows, or shared lanes marked by bicycle graphics that designate shared bicycle and vehicle lanes on roads that are too narrow to accommodate an entire bicycle lane. One example of this is along Joy Street from Washington Street to Brickbottom. The City plans to extend this bicycle path network on Broadway from Cedar Street to Sullivan Square and along Somerville Avenue. With the development in Assembly Square, there will be a bicycle lane along Assembly Square Drive as well as a path from East Somerville to the Mystic River.

• Bicycle Racks are located throughout Somerville's major squares and commercial areas. There are currently 50 Powder House bicycle racks, which are U-shaped racks with the Somerville symbol, and 70 bicycle rings. Another 50 bicycle rings will be installed soon.

• Somerville Community Path offers bicycle and pedestrian access to Somerville and neighboring towns and cities. For more information, see the link on the left.
• Safe Routes to School, which was developed as part of Safe-START, provides brochures and maps of routes for various Somerville schools.
• Shape-up Somerville is a city wide campaign to increase daily physical activity and healthy eating through programming, physical infrastructure improvements, and policy work. The campaign targets all segments of our community, including schools, city government, civic organizations, community groups, businesses, and other people who live, work, and play in Somerville.
• Somerville Bicycle Advisory Committee works to improve conditions for bicyclists in the City of Somerville, promote bicycling as a means of transportation, improve safety conditions for bicyclists, and to help implement policy, programs, and bike routes for all ages.
• Walking Groups for Seniors encourage healthy and sustainable activities for Somerville's Seniors. For more information, see the Council on Aging.
• Mystic Valley Active and Safe Transportation Network advocates for systematic improvements to active transport. This includes adding a bicycle and pedestrian trail along the Mystic River as well as on-road traffic calming. For more information, see the link on the right under Related Links.

• Streetscape Improvements along key corridors such as Broadway and Somerville Avenue will result in wider sidewalks and higher quality environments for walking and bicycling. 

ADA Accessibility is a goal throughout the City of Somerville. This involves improvements and upgrades of ADA ramps at high priority locations, as identified by the Commission for Persons with Disabilities. Improved areas include Union Square, Powder House Circle, and Broadway in East Somerville. These projects are in conjunction with the Department of Public Works maintenance and improvements. For more information, see City Departments, above. 

Safety and Regulations 

• Safe-START, or Safe Sustainable Transportation Assessment Recommendation Team, was started in 2006. The mission of this team is to increase safety for all travelers including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists in order to create conditions on Somerville's streets, intersections, and sidewalks that increase the number of people who walk, bike, and use other sustainable transportation. For more information, see the link on the right.
• For information on regulations, please note that:
  • Traffic Regulations can be found in PDF format at the City Clerk's Office. Article XII covers Pedestrian Control Regulations and Article XIII covers Bicycle Regulations.
  • Municode.com catalogues other related ordinances including new ordinances and Chapter 12 which covers Streets, Sidewalks, and Other Public Places.
• Regulations as outlined by Massachusetts General Law are located in Chapter 85 and Chapter 90.

Additional Information 

• For information on maintenance of sidewalks and traffic signal equipment and snow/ice removal on sidewalks, see DPW under City Departments, above.
• For information on illegal Parking on Sidewalks, re-striping crosswalks and identifying new crosswalk locations, see Traffic and Parking under City Departments, above.
• For information on ADA accommodations and compliance, see the Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
• For information on neighborhood traffic calming and mid-block pedestrian signs, see the Traffic Commission.