Earlier this week, WalkBoston staff facilitated a conversation between Stoneham’s Director of Planning & Community Development and a town resident who had read a recent Boston Globe story (“Together, neighbors can thwart speed demons. Here’s how“). She had reached out to WalkBoston with concerns regarding the lack of pedestrian crossings on the stretch of Main Street between North Border Road and Marble/Summer Streets, which is under MassDOT jurisdiction and signed as part of Massachusetts Route 28. South Elementary School is located on the east side of Main Street near the intersection with Summer Street, and she was concerned about her daughter and her friends being able to safely walk to and from school along this high-speed road. The town’s only public bus route, MBTA Route 132, also serves this section of Main Street and requires passengers to cross the wide stretch of road in order to access their origins and destinations.

The director of planning affirmed the resident’s concerns about pedestrian safety on Main Street, and shared a wish list for safe travel to and from school that had been compiled by parents and staff of the South School. She also discussed the potential for a road diet to be implemented on Main Street, which could tie into current planning efforts for a complete streets strategy in downtown Stoneham. She also informed us that approximately $4.2 million in Federal and State transportation funding has been allocated in the Boston MPO’s FY21-25 Transportation Improvement Plan to upgrade the intersection of Main Street, North Border Road, and Pond Street. For next steps, Stoneham will be reaching out to MassDOT District Four to discuss potential methods to improve pedestrian safety on Main Street in the short term.