Tag: Melrose

Join upcoming walk audits in Wakefield and Melrose

Join upcoming walk audits in Wakefield and Melrose

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Help us make our streets safer, more accessible, and climate resilient: join WalkMassachusetts and local community partners for our upcoming Climate-Safe Walk Audits this September! These walk audits are funded through a grant through MAPC’s Accelerating Climate Resilience grant program. We are exploring local streets to identify infrastructure challenges and opportunities related to safe mobility, heat islands, and flooding. In addition, these walk audits will help you develop the skills to lead a walk audit in your own neighborhood. Everyone is welcome: residents, business owners, and advocates alike!

Participants will observe, discuss, and help identify opportunities for improvement. We’ll also discuss climate/sustainability goals and how they might connect to our streets/sidewalk design. 

Upcoming Dates & Locations:

  • Wakefield: September 9th @ 6 PM
    Meet at Galvin Middle School
    We’ll begin with a brief overview and then walk together through key areas including the Main Street/Water Street and Main Street/Nahant Street/North Avenue intersections. RSVP & more info here. 
  • Melrose: Sept 10th @ 4:30 PM
    Meet at Wyoming Hill MBTA
    We’ll begin with a brief overview and then walk together through key areas, including Main St, the business district, and ending on W Emerson St where the farmer’s market is held every Thursday from 2:30 – 6 PM. Note: This audit is a point to point route. RSVP & more info here. 
Walk audit participants gather to share observations on the Tri-Community Greenway where it crosses Main Street / Route 28 in Stoneham, MA. August 27, 2026. Photo by Marc Armena.

As part of this project, we’ve also led walk audit trainings in Danvers, Salem, and Stoneham. Be on the lookout for the walk audit findings from each of those efforts, as well as next steps on how you can keep in touch with other participants who may be leading additional audits in those communities in the future. Curious if a walk audit has happened in your community before? Take a look at our interactive map, or learn how to lead your own!

Lynn Fells Parkway at Melrose Street Intersection Comment Letter

Lynn Fells Parkway at Melrose Street Intersection Comment Letter

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May 19, 2021 

Jeff Parenti
Deputy Chief Engineer, Division of Planning and Engineering
Department of Conservation and Recreation

Re: Lynn Fells Parkway at Melrose Street Intersection

Dear Jeff:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments for the proposed intersection improvements at Lynn Fells Parkway and Melrose Street. We are very excited to see DCR’s approach that improves safety for people walking and biking and adds traffic signals and upgraded crosswalks.

Design Concept 2 is our preferred approach for this intersection because it:

  • Significantly simplifies the intersection by closing the eastern end of Melrose Street to vehicles, in the process reducing conflict points and providing additional green space.
  • Offers improved visibility for pedestrians crossing to/from the north side of the intersection via curb extensions, and shortens the distance of the Lynn Fells Parkway crossing as recommended in our 2017 Melrose High School/Middle School Campus Bicycle and Pedestrian Accessibility Project Final Report.
  • Adds a new crossing in order to allow pedestrians travelling along the north side of Melrose Street to safely travel through the intersection without the need to traverse 3 crosswalks.
  • Several local residents voiced support for the concept at the Virtual Public Meeting on May 5, 2021.

We suggest considering several design details as the project advances:

  • Construct a 10.5’ shared use path along the north side of the intersection as demonstrated in Design Concepts 1 and 4, rather than a 6’ sidewalk and no dedicated space for cyclists on the road.
  • Close the second Dunkin Donuts drive-thru and convert the first drive-thru into a two-way operation in order to reduce conflict points for pedestrians, as explored in Design Concept 3 and supported by several local residents during the Q&A at the meeting on May 5.

Consider constructing continued bicycle lanes or a shared-use path along Lynn Fells Parkway, in order to provide cyclists with better separation from traffic than sharrows and ensure that the parkway is a pleasant travel experience for all users.

We look forward to seeing the next iteration of the project concept as it approaches final design.

Best regards,

Stacey Beuttell, Executive Director 

Lincoln Elementary School Walkability Assessment Report

Lincoln Elementary School Walkability Assessment Report

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WalkBoston conducted a walkability assessment in the area of Melrose, Massachusetts near the Lincoln Elementary School. After a brief discussion on pedestrian safety issues near the school and an explanation of how the assessment would be conducted, a group carried out an on-the-street audit of the pedestrian facilities in the area, with an emphasis on the routes students use to walk to and from the school grounds.

Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-LincolnElementarySchoolWalkabilityAssessment1-Melrose