The Wellesley Department of Public Works heard loud and clear during a recent forum (and via other communications before and after that) about the public’s safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists related to a reconstructed Weston Road. But DPW Director David Cohen said during the Board of Public Works meeting on Feb. 10 (see Wellesley Media recording) that his department is mainly sticking with the planned design it has shared, and that cyclists have spoken out against.
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.
The narrowness of the busy north-south roadway limits the DPW’s options for including accommodations such as dedicated bike lines, department officials have said. What they heard at the recent forum and in subsequent communications didn’t come as a surprise, Cohen said.
“This is the conflict that exists with this project,” he said. “This is what Dave [Hickey, town engineer] have been hearing all along.”
Cohen said the DPW team has spent a lot of time reviewing feedback from the public, but that “this is definitely a case where we wish that there was more we could do to create accommodations and facilities for cycling in this corridor, and in the end we just haven’t been able to come to a place where there’s any changes to the current design that I think we would recommend.”
The DPW team looked at the possibility of widening the road, including by moving or removing tree lawns or reducing sidewalk widths. “In the end, we just don’t think that is the right thing to do,” Cohen said.
The DPW has also taken into consideration cyclists’ concerns about vertical granite curbing, which can slash tires or otherwise endanger cyclists. But with 14,000 vehicles a day on Weston Road, Cohen said alternative curbing (like sloped granite curbing)( wouldn’t prove safer overall. The town doesn’t want to invite vehicles up onto the curbs on such a busy, narrow road.
Board of Public Works member Ellen Korpi said “my bias is to be as intermodal as possible,” but given the number of pedestrians vs. cyclists using this stretch, the town needs to focus more on the pedestrians in light of site constraints. “It sounds like we have to make a choice,” she said.
Korpi also urged the DPW to work with neighbors to help address issues with bad sight lines at intersecting streets along Weston Road (this could involve issues with fences, plantings, etc.). Hickey said the town has already begun speaking with some neighbors on this matter.
Perhaps some consolation for cyclists was mentioned by Cohen during the end of the agenda item. An upcoming project on Great Plain Avenue will allow the town to provide “full bike accommodations,” he said.
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