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Community Corner

Residents of Upper Concord Avenue Address Traffic Concerns

Neighborhood group contacting Traffic Advisory Committee to advocate traffic calming measures.

Residents of upper Concord Avenue are alarmed by the speeding cars in their neighborhood and will be investigating traffic calming measures to ensure the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers.

The Upper Concord Avenue Neighborhood Group met on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the Bto discuss the effects of commuter and commercial traffic on the street and ways to mitigate threats to the safety and piece of mind of its homeowners.

Organized and led by Dan Healey, the group included a few people who live on Concord Avenue as well as on Pinehurst and Hay roads.

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They discussed how pleased they were by attention the town, and especially Glenn Clancy, head of the , gave to work on upper Concord Avenue recently re-done in the past few weeks.

“Most neighbors welcomed the repaving (of that part of Concord Avenue) because the street was in terrible condition,” Healey said. However, he pointed out, many were worried the new smooth condition would encourage more traffic and higher speeds as well as change the residential nature of the neighborhood.

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Clancy, Healey said, listened to the neighbors’ concerns and provided a number of improvements such as granite curbing, a raised cross walk, paved sidewalks and improved shoulders.

The problem, now, the residents agreed, is that commuters from outside Belmont are using the road to pass through and often driving well over the speed limit of 30 miles per hour.

Can't drive 55

Healey said he has performed an “unscientific survey” and noted a number of the cars travel at 60 miles per hour. In addition, he said, Concord Avenue is the only street in the hill area that does not have a truck or commercial traffic ban as there is on Marsh, Prospect and Clifton streets.

Members of the neighborhood group made suggestions of what might help control speeding vehicles such as

• having the police schedule upper Concord Avenue as part of its automated system to watch traffic,

• put up LED signs that display the speed with which cars are traveling,

• installing a sidewalk going up the hill on the other side of the cemetery and

• place another raised crosswalk by Day School Lane to slow down traffic before the downward curve in the road.

“Anything we can do to remind people that this is a neighborhood is good,” said Healey. “There’s really no one measure that will improve the safety but, with every step we take, more people will follow the rules and drive slower.”

In the near future, the group will be expressing concerns to the Traffic Advisory Committee and other town officials who would be involved in making decisions about traffic calming measures.

Currently, Healey is compiling a list of neighbors’ concerns and suggestions.

Any residents who were unable to attend the meeting and would like to express their thoughts can email him at dhealey@tiac.net.

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