Meeting Agenda:
Thursday, October 24

7:30 PM.

Greetings, members of the Newton Corner Neighborhood Association! 

I hope you have had the opportunity to enjoy our remarkable fall weather.

Here is the Zoom Link for our next meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82848137477?pwd=ej9VtvqQa45ayronPjx6WmVMuENa4Z.1


Meeting ID: 828 4813 7477

Passcode: 240050

We are again fortunate that four of our City Councilors will be with us to discuss issues of importance to Newton Corner.  These include: 

  •   Alison Leary and John Oliver — Councilors at Large from Ward 1; 

  •   Maria Scibelli Greenberg — Ward Councilor from Ward 1; and 

  •   Marc C. Laredo — Councilor at Large from Ward 7.   

Joining us to review current and possible future changes to the Newton Corner rotary and surrounding traffic patterns are:

•  Ned Codd — Newton’s Director of Transportation

•  Dan Fielding — Mass. Department of Transportation

Dr. Srdjan S. Nedeljkovic will also share some “outside of the box” thoughts on future rotary options.

The first 15 minutes of the meeting will be spent reviewing items of general interest to residents of Newton Corner.  At 7:45 we will begin our discussion of traffic-related concerns.

1 Items of general Interest:

A  Update on 41 Washington Street

B  City’s request for volunteers to clean the aerators in Farlow Park Pond next summer

C  Changes in water bill charges

2 Traffic Concerns

The potential impact of the current structural changes on traffic flow through neighborhood streets as drivers seek to minimize time spent commuting is of major concern to those of us who live along potential alternate routes such as Church Street and Richardson Street.  

 At issue is the question of responsibility.  Who is responsible when work done by the State impacts traffic on City Streets?

We have tried to address this question before, but with no success.  Since we will have representatives from both the city and the state at the meeting, we would like to make this a primary focus of the conversation.

The following questions have been raised by NCNA members and will hopefully be answered as part of the discussion.

A.   Update on current structural change to rotary

— How much of the work has been completed?

— When is the anticipated completion date?

— Who is paying for the work?

— How was the decision reached to make these changes? 
Who was involved in the decision making?
DOT?  Newton Traffic Council?  Ward 1 Councilors?

— Will trees and other plantings be included as part of any structural changes?

B.  The chart below shows the Traffic Calming priorities for Newton, 2024. 

The link explains how these priorities were reached Many residents have complained for years about the dangerous intersection at Park and Tremont Street yet this intersection is not included. Why not? And what can we do to convince the city that this is an issue of major importance to the neighborhood?

       

             

  https://www.newtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/118139/638471625895430000

C.  The Traffic Calming document implies that there is current data that measures traffic flow on Church St. and Richardson Street. We would like to have this information made public and used as a baseline for comparing the increase in traffic flow once the structural changes are complete. We suggest data updates be made at least every other month for the next year —to be measured on work days during morning and evening commutes. How can we insure that such monitoring will be done and who will be responsible for communicating this information to our Councilors?

These are issues of major importance to the neighborhood. Please take this opportunity to express your concern directly to decision makers.

Warm regards,

Robin Boger, President

Newton Corner Neighborhood Association