FRAMINGHAM – The Traffic Commission last month approved on-street parking and a six-foot-wide bike lane for portions of Danforth Street near Concord Street and McGrath Square. There will also be crosswalks added on Danforth at both Stearns and Cottage streets, including “bump outs” narrowing the vehicle travel lanes at both pedestrian crossings.
“I think the DPW hit it out of the park with this plan,” Steve Weisman, a Stearns Street resident and Friends of Saxonville board member, said at the Oct. 28 meeting. “It’s really good. It addresses three parking needs:
“We have no on-street parking in the square. So this provides some amount of on-street parking that can support retail businesses in the square.
“We have no on-street parking for the Carol Getchell Nature Trail which is about to reopen with an ADA-accessible boardwalk.
“And then at Danforth park, again, there’s no parking at all. It’s a very popular park for soccer practice for kids, so this helps with that problem as well.”
Around 2,200 cars a day now use Danforth Street, Weisman noted.
District 2 City Councilor Brandon Ward called the proposal a “comprehensive, complete plan that I think is going to be really beneficial to the neighborhood and the community.”
Parking will start on the left-hand side of the street on Danforth Street:
Beyond Stearns Street, marked parking will be on the right side of the road to be adjacent to the park. The vehicle travel lane would therefore shift slightly left, creating some traffic calming. Speed limit in the area is 25 mph. Traffic would be marked to shift back to the right shortly before Cottage Street, when Danforth becomes two-way.
The planned new bike lane ends at Cottage Street. Weisman suggested it be continued up to Old Connecticut Path since Danforth Street is wide enough. That may be considered.
Timing “should be fairly quick” to implement markings and other work, attendees were told.
There will also be a handicapped parking spot on Hillside Street for access to the Getchell Trail.
Below is a video excerpt from that Oct. 28 Traffic Commission meeting, with captions, if you want to watch the full 20-minute discussion.
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