Exactly a week after a pedestrian was hit by a car on Concord Avenue, Precinct 2 Town Meeting member Anthony Barnes appealed to the Select Board to explore pedestrian safety improvements for that neighborhood.
“I’m not here advocating for any specific design,” he said. “I’m advocating for improved safety. I request the Select Board ask the Transportation Advisory Committee to revisit existing designs for this area, evaluate the current conditions, and identify feasible safety improvements.”
Barnes was referring to the intersection of Concord Avenue and Winter Street, where a 16-year-old girl was hit while crossing the street on Monday, June 8. According to police, the Belmont Fire Department brought the teenager to Children’s Hospital in Boston for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
“We’ve had a number of safety incidents,” Select Board Chair Matt Taylor said, acknowledging Barnes’ remarks. “I’ve reached out to members of the Transportation Advisory Committee, the Age Friendly Action, in terms of compiling a list of intersections… I’ve also done a deep dive into safety zones, which appear to be something we don’t use in Belmont.”
While the Winter Street-Concord Avenue intersection was not up for discussion Monday night, Barnes’ remarks preceded a conversation about other areas of town where traffic safety improvements are already underway: Beech Street (at three intersections); Concord Avenue (in areas of the Belmont Public Library, the post office, Claypit Pond, and the Underwood Pool); and finally, the Grove Street corridor.
Improvements include flashing beacons, new stop signs or traffic signals, and curb and corner extensions for traffic calming and pedestrian safety.
“I want to highlight that I think dollars spent per incremental improvements in safety— having rectangular flashing beacons and narrowing the crossing distance by bumping out the road—has a lot of benefits, not just for people crossing but calming traffic,” Taylor said.
The Select Board voted unanimously Monday night to approve the Transportation Advisory Committee’s recommendations, presented by Town Engineer Wayne Chouinard.
Beech Street Improvements
The Beech Street improvements include three separate sections, each with planned site-specific improvements.
At the intersection of the Beech Street Community Center and Upland Road, proposed improvements include a rapid flash beacon, curb and corner extensions, and improved pedestrian crossing signage, according to Chouinard.
“Rapid flash beacons are much more efficient when you put them with a curb extension,” he said.
At Beech Street and Orchard Street, the plan is to add a stop sign.
“A lot of students coming down on bikes and scooters coming down Orchard [Street] needed a stop sign,” he said. “They were just going through onto Beech.”
And finally, at Beech Street and Benjamin Road, to mitigate speeding observed during traffic studies, the improvements include a raised crosswalk/speed bump, curb and corner extensions, and improved pedestrian crossing signage.
“We had gone through a couple of public meetings, notification to abutters and presentations at least two different times to the Transportation Advisory Committee, and the last meeting, they provided a recommendation to send to the [Select Board] for a vote,” Chouinard said.
Concord Avenue Improvements
Concord Avenue improvements are proposed in four highly trafficked pedestrian areas: the post office, the Belmont Public Library, Louise Road (in the vicinity of Clay Pit Pond), and Underwood Street, where the town pool is located.
“Concord Avenue is a Complete Streets grant that was applied for in 2023,” Chouinard explained, noting it was initiated by the late Glenn Clancy, Chouinard’s predecessor, for improved sidewalk crossings.
Highlights include a rapid flashing beacon at the post office on Concord Avenue, as well as a curb extension, curb ramps that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); a raised crosswalk, flashing beacon, pedestrian crossing signage, and ADA-compliant curb ramps at the library; a new crosswalk at Louise Road, a pedestrian refuge area in median, curb and corner extensions, and ADA-compliant curb ramps. And finally, at Underwood Street, the plan is for raised crosswalks with rapid flashing beacons, improved pedestrian crossing signage, and ADA-compliant curb ramps.
“It’s still a busy place; I’m not going to claim whether we should or shouldn’t have a crossing guard there,” he said, responding to Taylor’s point that there is a crossing guard at the Underwood location in the mornings. “ It really depends on driver behavior, not necessarily pedestrian behavior.”
Grove Street Corridor
According to Chouinard, the Grove Street redesign—which spans Grosvenor Road to Belmont Street— proposes traffic signals, traffic calming with street geometry changes, bicycle lane accommodations, and parking in the vicinity of Grove Street Playground.
“Cambridge has done work on Huron [Street] … similar to this to make it more multimodal friendly,” Taylor said. “In Belmont, you have the Belmont Cemetery on one side, and then there’s crosswalks by Choate [Road] and the playground, and they’re generally not well protected or signed in a way, given there’s a park and playground right across the street. This is a long time coming, but it’s a pretty significant project.”
Chouinard estimated the project’s cost at up to $4.2 million, with support from the state expected, either through funds in an economic development bill or a transportation improvement bill.
“I think where we are with this one is we have a design recommendation we’ve had a chance to look at briefly, and maybe we’re at a point where we can show support for it,” Taylor said. “But there’s still a lot of stuff to be done in terms of timing and funding.”
