They’re gonna do it.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration announced Friday afternoon that they’re committing to build a “long-awaited” bicycle and pedestrian bridge across the Mystic River from Somerville’s Assembly Square to the Encore casino in Everett.
State officials say they expect to finish the permitting and design process next summer, with the construction of the nearly 800-foot bridge to begin in 2024.
The project is expected to cost nearly $49 million in total, including $37 million for the bridge itself and another $12 million to expand the Assembly MBTA station’s northern headhouse. The expansion is necessary so that pedestrians can get to the riverside of the Orange Line tracks where the Somerville-end of the bridge connects.
