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The last two years have been groundbreaking years for the Traffic Advisory Committee, hereafter referred to as “TAC.” With the guidance of the Board of Selectmen and in conjunction with the Office of Community Development and the Belmont Police Department, the TAC has rewritten an expanded Charge and also has documented a process by which citizens of the Town of Belmont can come to the Committee and have their concerns heard. The goal was to bring a fairly new committee to the next level of responsibility due to the increasing traffic issues that the Town is experiencing and also to assist the Board of Selectmen in their ever-increasing workload in
these challenging times. The Committee members have been working hard to meet the increased demands and have risen to the challenge admirably.
The TAC, with the invaluable assistance of Tom Gatzunis, the Town Engineer, and Sergeant Kenneth Hamilton of the Belmont Police Department, successfully completed a very challenging traffic calming project on White Street which was a priority in the Pavement Management Plan. Many public hearings were held to solicit the input of the diverse community that resides in and around White Street to agree on a design that would work for all. Many new traffic-calming features were incorporated in the resurfacing project such as a raised intersection near the Butler School at the Sycamore/White Street intersection, neckdowns to slow traffic, and thermoplastic international crosswalks. Sergeant Hamilton added an extra bonus to the project by selecting White Street next to the Butler School for a new school zone sign indicating speed,
which he procured through a grant. This is to alert drivers coming down the hill of their speed and that they are entering a school zone. Parking was restricted to one side of the street for the safety of the school children and crossing pedestrians as well as to accommodate the installation of granite curbing and sidewalks, with the exception of the block from Trapelo Road to Sycamore. Parking was retained for one block to accommodate the customers of the business community on Trapelo Road. We are very excited that the project was a resounding success as well as the new policy of incorporating traffic calming within the Pavement Management Program. This is a big success which translates into safer streets for our Town.
We are now embarking on a new very difficult task – the Trapelo Road corridor. Although the actual street design will not come before the TAC for some time, we are assisting and working cooperatively with the Planning Board to advance the project. This particular project is the largest in scope that the TAC and possibly the Town of Belmont has seen, due to the involvement of major planning efforts, zoning issues, and anticipated structures along the corridor.
Last year we also saw implemented the work of the previous year, from which, in error, a report was not filed to Town Meeting. I would like to take this time to expand on that work and correct that error. The Board of Selectmen stepped out of the box and appropriated $150,000 from the Pavement Management Budget and gave the TAC the task of identifying and implementing safety improvements. One of the main priorities TAC identified was pedestrian safety, and, with input from the Belmont Citizen’s Forum, we adopted the International-style crosswalk. TAC wanted to make a statement of pedestrian safety and identified “most frequently” traveled crosswalks and used the funds to install thermoplastic International-style crosswalks. “Yield to Pedestrian” cones were purchased and installed in
Belmont Center, Cushing Square and on Cross Street at the Winnbrook School. In addition, the Butler School community voiced a concern that the school children could not cross Trapelo Road safely at the Sycamore/Trapelo crosswalk. The TAC discontinued the use of that crosswalk and relocated it to Hawthorne and Trapelo where it was safer for a crosswalk. A neckdown was designed to pinch the travel lanes down to one lane in each direction at the crosswalk location. With these measures, there is now a shorter distance for crossing, and we are hoping that the Belmont Police Department will assign a crossing guard at this location for the aid of the Butler School children. A neckdown will also be constructed at Willow/Trapelo and Poplar/Trapelo to define Cushing Square more and to slow traffic in an effort to make Cushing Square a more pedestrian friendly environment. This was an extremely exciting project for TAC and we thank the Board of
Selectmen as well as the Office of Community Development for the opportunity to be proactive.
This Committee has been very busy while simultaneously evolving into a stronger and more active force, which has meant meeting more than once a month for many months in a row. I am very proud of the Members who have devoted their time selflessly to serve the Town. We had two members doing double-duty: Tim Turner acted as TAC liaison to the Parking Committee, and Andrea Masciari acting as liaison to the Planning Board for the Trapelo Road Corridor Study. I would also like to thank Chief Andrew O’Malley and Sergeant Hamilton of the Belmont Police Department who use their forces to do the traffic counts necessary for us to do our job to make informed thoughtful decisions in conformance with the State of Massachusetts traffic laws. They devote costly manpower and time which is tough to incorporate into today’s
shrinking budgets. I would also like to emphasize that without the expertise and talent of Tom Gatzunis, our Town Engineer, we could not be a successful committee.
Respectfully submitted,
MaryJo Frisoli, Chairman
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