At this month’s meeting, the Traffic and Parking Commission got closer to making final recommendations for two traffic problem areas in the city, and held a public hearing on proposed intersection improvements at Eastern Avenue and Griffin Way.
Mary Festa, who lives near the intersection of Jefferson and Washington avenues, has been a major proponent for safety improvements at that intersection. Festa was before the commission again this month to get a progress update.
City Housing and Community Development Director Alex Train said short-term fixes are on the way, with funding being located for longer-term safety measures at the intersection.
“Our engineering consultant performed an analysis of the location and did a site visit,” said Train. “They developed a set of recommendations they put forward to the city. Some of them are short-term actionable items, whereas others are longer term that will require some significant funding.”
Train said the funding could be identified in the next several weeks with the help of the city manager.
“In the short term, you will see a few things like pavement markings, signage, and those sort of low-cost enhancements,” said Train.
The longer-term improvements the city is looking at include modifying the geometry of the intersection to reduce speeding and improve safety.
Much like the Washington and Jefferson avenues intersection, Summit Avenue resident Rony Gobin came to the commission with concerns about speeding and pedestrian safety near the Chelsea Soldiers Home on Summit Avenue.
“This item is also undergoing an evaluation by our engineering consultant, and right now we are considering traffic calming measures like low-rise speed humps, improved pavement markings, and flashing signage,” said Train. “Our engineer is preparing a cost estimate as well as an illustrative plan that the city will bring forward to the commission at our next meeting.”
The Traffic and Parking Commission also held a public hearing on the signal and intersection improvements proposed by the MWRA for the Eastern Avenue and Griffin Way intersection.
The proposed improvements include the installation of an actuated traffic signal with an advance left-turn phase, an exclusive pedestrian phase for the three crosswalks at the intersection, and emergency preemption for emergency vehicles.
The improvements will maintain a four-lane section on Eastern Avenue, and extensive repairs to the sidewalk and curbing at the corner of Griffin Way.
Work is expected to get underway this July and be completed by April of 2023, according to project engineer Jack Martin.
Martin said the project will also take into consideration recommendations made by the city to make the project more ADA accessible.