Wellesley Traffic Committee update on Grove/Benvenue intersection

From the Wellesley Traffic Committee:

The Wellesley Traffic Committee has made temporary modifications to the Grove Street and Benvenue Street intersection to help improve safety in this area. 

These short-term changes are the result of recent public meetings and neighborhood input and will be in place while the committee collects and reviews data for possible long-term, permanent changes. The modifications include:

• Installing a crosswalk delineator on Grove Street just north of the Benvenue intersection. This highlights the crosswalk and provides a physical impediment on the center line to help naturally slow traffic.
• Deploying portable speed feedback traffic trailers on both sides of Grove Street north and south of Benvenue Street. These trailers alert drivers and prompt them to slow down when exceeding the posted speed limit. The trailers also collect vehicle speed data, recording the speed of passing vehicles and whether or not they respond by slowing down. This data will be collected for at least 3 months.

The DPW Park and Tree division has also worked with residents at the southeast corner of Benvenue Street and Grove Street to further trim and prune landscaping on this property, greatly improving the sight line at the intersection. 

Tenacre School has also agreed to trim and prune landscaping on the northeast edge of Benvenue Street and Grove Street. School staff will complete this work in the coming weeks. 

Many community members and neighbors also responded to a public survey on possible long-term modifications to the intersection. The survey options and opinions are below: 

• Installing a flashing beacon above the intersection was discarded due to a lack of support.
• Installing permanent speed feedback signs on Grove Street or an all-way stop at the intersection both received more support than opposition. The all-way stop had the most support but also twice as much opposition. Permanent speed feedback signs had the least opposition. 

The Traffic Committee will continue to monitor the intersection going forward, working with on-call professional traffic engineers to evaluate the data and determine what, if any, additional action should be taken. 

Future updates will be posted on the Town of Wellesley website.