LYNN — The City of Lynn, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is in the design phase of sweeping street renovation projects from the Western Avenue corridor, to Essex Street.
Principal Planner Aaron Clausen sat down with WorldTech Engineering president Richard Benevento and TV show host Calvin Anderson Wednesday afternoon in the Lynn Community Access Television (LCTV) studio to discuss the Complete Streets project on the shooting of an episode of “Cal’s Whirled!”
The Complete Streets program utilizes a combination of federal and state funding to incentivize municipalities to repair and improve roads with the intention of making them safer for all who traverse them, including cyclists, bus drivers, and pedestrians. In Lynn, MassDOT is investing approximately $47 million for a five-year reconstruction of Western Avenue and Essex Street.
One of the main challenges the city and its hired engineers face in the reconstruction of nearly 10,800 linear feet of Western Avenue, Benevento said, is the safe accommodation of all travelers on an already congested road.
“The whole point of Complete Streets is trying to accommodate all users. One of the challenges with these designs is we’re trying to, in many cases, fit 10 pounds in a one pound bag, because now, in addition to accommodating 16,000 vehicles per day on Western Avenue, we now have to also accommodate bicycles, pedestrians, and transit,” Benevento said.
Benevento added that the project will include the installation of new, high-tech traffic signals at 11 different intersections between Market Square and the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Western Avenue. Additionally, traffic signals will be installed at the intersections of Eastern Avenue and Western, and Park Street and Western Avenue, both locations where there currently are none.
“You take your life in your hands trying to get across there [the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Western Avenue],” Benevento said. “The other new traffic signal will be at Park Street. Park Street is a high volume intersection. […] that’s a Highway Safety Improvement Program location, those are intersections that have high accident occurrence.”
These high-tech traffic signals, Benevento said, are capable of tracking traffic volume patterns and responding accordingly.
“This is all high technology traffic signal equipment. What ends up happening is all the progression as you’re going down Western Ave., it’s smart traffic, so they know what the volumes are. They know when traffic is queued up, they know what time of day that is,” he said.
In addition to increased traffic signals, Clausen added that intersection “bump outs” or pedestrian curb extensions, will help to slow oncoming traffic, while shortening pedestrian cross sections.
“Taking into consideration design techniques that make it safer for the pedestrian, the bump outs shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians, they also help slow traffic. So vehicles making a turn are going to be making that turn more slowly and that safer for everybody,” Clausen said.
Clausen stated that Complete Streets program improvements are ultimately aimed at decreasing crashes and keeping the city’s intersections safe for all who traverse them, but also will encourage more frequent use.
“The City of Lynn, unfortunately, has one of the highest incidences of high crash locations in the Commonwealth,” Clausen said. “The city has them all over the place, so that these design techniques are intended to make it safer for everyone, not just because we want to reduce the incidences of accidents or injuries, but a safer place encourages greater use. If you feel safer in an environment, you’re more likely to walk from point to point, or ride your bike, or take the bus.”
Western Avenue and Essex Street reconstructions are likely to be completed by 2027, while Essex Street improvements are likely to be finished by 2024. Clausen added that the city will hold public hearings in months and years to come, to gather the community’s input.
