Cambridge Council Unanimously Backs Study of Gender-Neutral Bathrooms in New Buildings

CAMBRIDGE — March 23, 2026 — Cambridge City Council unanimously backs gender-neutral bathroom study and approves $5.9 million in snow costs. The council voted 9-0 Monday to direct city legal, planning, and inspectional services departments to report whether Cambridge can require at least one gender-neutral single-stall restroom in all new buildings with mandatory public facilities, a measure filed by Councilor Marc McGovern alongside Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and six co-sponsors added during the meeting. The council separately adopted $5,234,379 from free cash for snow removal and $700,000 for storm-related road repairs — pushing total winter snow spending to roughly $7 million, triple the prior year's costs — with Public Works Commissioner Owen Nardone attributing the increase to two major back-to-back storms that required hauling operations running $250,000 to $300,000 per night for at least four nights each. The council also voted 9-0 to endorse a $3 million federal earmark for the Department of Conservation and Recreation to advance a Boston-Cambridge Riverwalk on the Museum of Science's Charles River frontage to 25 percent design, and ordained 8-1 — Councilor Dennis Flaherty dissenting — an amendment to Section 4.50 of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance aligning institutional use regulations with the state's Dover Amendment.