Construction Begins on Intersection of Lynn Fells and Melrose Street
By Ellen Putnam
This week, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which is responsible for maintaining the Lynn Fells Parkway, began work on a project to redesign the intersection of the Lynn Fells Parkway and Melrose Street. The project will involve rebuilding curbs and adding traffic signals to the intersection, and is expected to last until March of next year. During construction, all roads will be open but lanes will be shifted or removed, so delays are likely.
The stretch of the Lynn Fells Parkway between Vinton Street and Main Street is one of the areas in Melrose with the most crashes. According to DCR, crash rates at the Lynn Fells-Melrose Street intersection are twice the state average for intersections that don’t have a traffic light. Residents and city officials have raised concerns about the setup of the intersection, which involves five streets plus a busy driveway leading into the Towers Plaza Shopping Center. The intersection’s proximity to Melrose High School, Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, and the recreation areas along Ell Pond make pedestrian and bicyclist safety a particular concern there as well.
Plans for the intersection, from DCR
The Melrose Pedestrian and Bicyclist Committee (Ped-Bike) wrote a letter to DCR in 2020, at the beginning of the planning process for this project, outlining their concerns. They made note of the poor visibility for all roadway users and the multi-leg configuration of the intersection that allows for too many possible vehicle movements, as well as the long, exposed crosswalk distances and the lack of bicycle infrastructure at the intersection.
DCR looked at several possible configurations for the intersection, including the possibility of closing off Crystal Street and the adjacent leg of Melrose Street to make them into a single one-way street, but they ultimately decided to add a traffic light without significantly changing the layout of the intersection. The Lynn Fells Parkway will maintain two lanes in each direction between Melrose Street and Main Street, and separate bike lanes will not be added. The new traffic signal at Lynn Fells and Melrose Street is intended to be synced with the light at Lynn Fells and Main Street, to avoid creating more traffic jams in the area.
The City of Melrose has worked on a number of projects in recent years to address road safety concerns, but DCR’s jurisdiction over the Lynn Fells Parkway has made coordinating on improvements there more challenging.
You can find more information about this construction project on DCR's website.
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