The town of Wellesley is readying for a major reconstruction project on Weston Road, and this week held a public forum to share information and answer questions (Wellesley Media recorded the meeting).
Plans are to improve the busy north-south roadway and surrounding sidewalks beginning this summer from around the Fells Market intersection at Rte. 9 to the Weston town line. It’s estimated by the town to be a 6-8 month project. The road hasn’t had a full repaving since 1986, and sidewalks are in rough shape as well, presenting safety, accessibility, and drainage issues. There’s an effort as part of this project to keep and refurbish tree lawns to retain a residential feel along the road even though it’s a very busy one.
More than 70 people signed up for the online session, most who live in the Weston Road area and have been living the detour lifestyle during National Grid gas main work over the past couple of years. Pedestrian safety was top of mind for many of them in commenting on the road project.
Residents have been encouraged to contact the town if they have concerns about their property being affected by the upcoming Department of Public Works project, and have been warned that a 5-year moratorium will be in place after the repaving and reconstruction that would prevent non-emergency excavations from taking place related to home or other projects.
A strong showing of cyclists also tuned in—that community keeps a sharp eye on roadway improvements and frequently fights the use of tire slashing granite curbing and narrow shoulders rather than designs that make it easier for cyclists to bail from the road when needed.
The town has attempted to do this project over the past couple of years, but has been stymied by National Grid project scheduling. The Board of Public Works will hit up Annual Town Meeting this spring for funding what is estimated to be a $4M construction project along 3,800 feet of road.
Eric Cohen, an avid local cyclist, kicked off the Q&A portion of the program seeking clarity on bicycle safety accommodations. He expressed concerns about whether this project would have similarities to recent work along Washington Street near Elm Bank Reservation where the road has been narrowed at points and features sections of granite curbing.
Word that there will be sharrows (those road markings that indicate vehicle drivers and cyclists need to share the road) that many cyclists say are a nice notion but don’t do much for them. Cyclists and non-cyclists urged the town to rethink its design to incorporate bike lanes or at least some extra space even if it means narrowing sidewalks or giving up some tree lawn space—they argued this is particularly important given the proximity of schools that kids would like to bike to and from.
Unfortunately for cyclists, the narrowness of Weston Road and the need to make sidewalks wider for accessibility and snow plowing, limits the town’s options for things like bike lanes, said Town Engineer David Hickey. He acknowledged cyclist concerns about granite curbing, but said granite is the best material for pedestrian protection, drainage, and roadway cleaning. “It’s just a space problem for us,” he said.
Still, cyclists said they’d take what they can get. “Every little inch helps,” Kurt Forsgren said. Separately, Kevin Clark encouraged the town to take a more creative approach in working with area cyclists.
Hickey said toward the end of the session that “The right of way is a huge challenge here and we can’t check all the boxes, we can’t solve all the problems.”
While residents welcome a refurbished and better designed Weston Road, they also worry about faster speeds that a smoother surface will invite (see recently repaved Pond Road as an example… or don’t if you’re not into playing chicken). Among town mitigation efforts on Weston Road will be installing those speed registering signs intended to discourage speeding. Neighbors encouraged the town to install more flashing beacons at crosswalks. There are restrictions for the town on Weston Road at the dicey Rte. 9 intersection, where the state oversees the roadway.
Another concern raised included giving people on roads that bore the brunt of detours during National Grid work to get a break during the town’s Weston Road project.
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100% want the granite curbings! I live right off of Weston Road and am in favor of granite curbing as I walk the sidewalks every day along with my young kids!
Also, find it a little comical, but expected, how the cyclist acted in this meeting. These are the same people who the vast majority of, won’t stop for people in the crosswalks on Weston road (which they are required by law too), go through red lights and go through stop signs. It’s 100% about them and that’s all they care about.
Also, twice now early in the mornings this past summer I saw a cyclist urinating on the side of the road near Northgate. Enough is enough caving into their demands! More people use the sidewalks every day than the cyclist too! Please please please but up granite curbing to protect the kids and everyone else that use the sidewalks.
Also, if cars hit the granite curbing, maybe it will force the drivers to SLOW down on this road!
Kathy
As a father of young kids, who use the Weston Road sidewalks every day between School, walking to the parks, etc., I really hope that there will be granite curbing.
I personally have seen so many cars either parking on the sidewalks preventing people from using them (which then forces people to walk around on Weston road which is dangerous especially if you have a stroller), to driving up on the sidewalks as their cars drift a little bit. I am also a hard core cyclist/biker myself, who do long bike rides and yes, granite curbing is not ideal for us, but still feel the pros outweigh the cons by ensuring we have granite curbing. I say this as I can assure you that this notion that all cyclist who have bikes hates granite curbing is 100% NOT true. That is a false narrative that is being told.
I also can tell you as well, that many other cyclists also agree with me as many of us all have young kids, live in town and want the granite curbing.
There are much more and I mean much more people who use the sidewalks for walking to school, walking to the parks and even young kids using their bikes on the sidewalks as well, vs. cyclist. As someone who has lived in this town for 15 years in this part of town, travels this section of the road 4-5 times a day, I feel that I am very familiar on who is using this portion of the road. Thank you so much!
The cyclists hijacked the conversation and drowned out the residents who actually live in these neighborhoods. Some of them weren’t even from Wellesley. They were rude and confrontational and do not represent the views of the rest of us.