Last week, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) convened the first in what is expected to be a series of public hearings on long-awaited improvements to the intersection of Lynn Fells Parkway and Melrose Street. The Melrose Ped/Bike Committee (PBC) has long advocated for improvements to this corridor, starting with our 2018 North-South Bike Route plan, parts of which were funded through a Complete Streets grant which added striped bike lanes and signage to the area. These improvements, among the first of their kind in Melrose, are considered the first step along the way to more substantial protected infrastructure projects in the future.
The PBC submitted a comment letter to this hearing which can be reviewed here, alongside conceptual redesigns featuring enhanced pedestrian and bicycle treatments. As part of this phase of the project, we also recommend studying an approach which either a) utilizes a roundabout, or b) closes off vehicular access to the two-stage intersection at Lynn Fells/Melrose/Crystal Streets. As the DCR states in the meeting, automobile drivers crash along this stretch at a significantly higher rate than the state average. We feel that simplifying turning movements and traffic flows will help automobile drivers stop crashing here so frequently, an important step to improving public safety in this area.
Our letter highlights the below safety issues within this corridor:
- Visibility is poor for all roadway users, which contributes to dangerous driving behavior and puts people, especially vulnerable road users, at heightened risk of injury or death.
- Existing crosswalk distances are long and expose vulnerable road users to considerable risk of injury or death with little to no protection from motorists.
- Current, multi-leg intersection configuration results in too many concurrently allowable vehicle movements, contributing to a large number of conflict points and crashes (head-on, T-bone, side swipe, rear-end).
- There are no dedicated bicycle facilities through this intersection, at a location with our Middle and High School, a major commercial hub, and recreational designations, that could significantly benefit from safer, more convenient bicycle access.
You can view a recording of the meeting below. Our committee chair, Jonah Chiarenza, comments at the 56:30 mark.