Please see here for an update regarding Lexington Street re-striping:

In January of this year, Waltham’s Traffic Commission, on the recommendation of the city’s Traffic Engineer, released The City of Waltham Transportation Master Plan (TMP) to map out the City’s transportation future and outline how to best manage traffic to protect residential neighborhoods, promote business in designated areas, improve safety, offer mode choice and ensure quality of life for residents. Taking a multi-modal approach, the TMP focuses on all modes of transportation including vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users, supporting the implementation of the City’s Complete Streets Policy. This policy was established in 2014 and requires that projects be designed, operated, maintained and enforced to provide safety and accessibility for all users of all ages and abilities.

As part of the TMP, and in an effort to reduce speeding issues on Lexington Street, the Traffic Commission & Traffic Engineer began what they called the “Traffic Calming Project”, where analysis was conducted to determine the feasibility of lane reductions. The results of this analysis show that the northbound direction of the Lexington Street corridor can be accommodated with a single through lane, with proper traffic signal timing to manage traffic through the signalized intersections.  This will have the safety benefit of lowering speeds of vehicles, since studies indicate that with the previous two northbound lanes, vehicles travelled at excessive speeds along Lexington Street. (You can see the full outline of the Lexington Street “Traffic Calming Project” on pages 134-138 of the TMP here: http://bit.ly/WalthamTMP)

You may have noticed the traffic back up on Tuesday afternoon. Per Traffic Engineer, Michael Garvin, this was due to a malfunctioning traffic light by Ridge Ln & Lionel Ave, and the light has since been temporarily fixed. Over the next few weeks, they will work to make sure traffic lights are timed and coordinated correctly and replace faulty equipment, including traffic signals and cameras experiencing detection issues. The Traffic Commission & Traffic Engineer will actively continue to monitor the Lexington Street project and make necessary adjustments as they come.  In its completion, Lexington Street will accommodate users of all modes of transportation and better enforce the neighborhood speed limit.

*It is important to note that the Mayor & elected officials are happy to receive comments, feedback and suggestions regarding this project, but the decision is ultimately made by the independent Traffic Commission which governs these matters. Please use this quick form to send your thoughts directly to our city’s Traffic Engineer: http://bit.ly/LexingtonStFeedback.