MBTA restores Route 90 through East Somerville after city talks; parking restrictions used to improve bus turning geometry
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Summary
After resident and city protests over a MBTA service change, the MBTA restored Route 90 service to Pearl, Cross and Broadway in August following a site walk and an agreement that the city would implement safety and parking adjustments to improve bus operations.
An order asked the director of mobility to update the committee on recent changes to MBTA route 90. City mobility staff summarized the background and the steps that led to the bus being restored to East Somerville streets.
Mobility staff said the 2022 MBTA bus network redesign had not originally removed the East Somerville leg of route 90, but after the Green Line Extension opened the MBTA moved the route to improve connections to the new East Somerville station. That service change removed the bus from Pearl, Cross and Broadway and routed it down McGrath to Washington Street, prompting strong neighborhood pushback from residents and city leaders who said riders — including high school students — lost a convenient one-seat connection.
City staff and Mayor Ballantine met with MBTA general manager Phil Eng and MBTA staff and conducted a site walk. Mobility staff said MBTA identified narrow turning geometry and short bus stops (shorter than MBTA standards) as operational safety concerns. The MBTA required parking restrictions nearest the Cross and Broadway signalized intersection to create turning room and to improve boarding clearances; city staff recommended and enacted those restrictions to enable the MBTA to restore service.
“We're happy to report…route 90 bus is now restored to Pearl Street, Cross Street, and Broadway as of August,” the mobility update said. City staff cautioned the MBTA’s longer-term logic — combining route 88 and 90 to improve frequency and to prioritize Green Line connections — remains valid, and said the MBTA and city plan to continue public consultations to refine a durable long‑term solution.
Councilors asked staff to include crash and operational data in future community conversations so residents and small businesses could better understand the safety tradeoffs and parking impacts. City staff acknowledged outreach and notification to merchants could have been handled better and said they will improve communications going forward.
