Published April 23, 2021
MELROSE — Mayor Paul Brodeur announced that the Melrose Slow Streets initiative and application are now open, and materials distribution will begin on May 15th.
Last year, the City of Melrose was awarded a MassDOT Shared Streets & Spaces grant to fund reimagined outdoor spaces for safer dining and recreation.
Melrose used the allocated funds to purchase materials to build parklets, like the one on Main Street, and for temporary road construction materials like signage, traffic cones, sawhorses, striping tape, and barriers for quick-build traffic-calming measures on residential streets.
“We started Slow Streets in the fall,” said Mayor Paul Brodeur, “and it was a great opportunity for neighborhoods to work together to design a plan to slow traffic on their streets, creating a better environment for walking and recreation in residential areas.”
The City of Melrose is working with the Melrose Pedestrian/Bike Committee (Ped/Bike), an independent advocacy group, to help neighborhoods through the application and approval process. Ped/Bike has volunteered to assist residents upon request in designing a plan for their neighborhood. Once approved, Melrose Department of Public Works will drop off materials to the residents who will set up the installation per the agreed design.
“The Slow Streets program succeeded in bringing traffic calming to a handful of neighborhoods last year, and we are excited to give more streets the opportunity to participate in 2021,” said DPW Director Elena Proakis Ellis. “The program really helped foster a sense of community among our residents and DPW is glad to be a part of that.”
For more details about the process and how to apply, please visit https://www.cityofmelrose.org/mayor/slow-streetsshared-streets
