June newsletter
Ellery Klein, WalkMedford
Hello WalkMedford!!!
Mark your calendars for our fall meeting, September 11 at 6 pm, location TBC but probably at the Medford Public Library. We’ll be featuring City Councilor Emily Lazzaro, who has been an incredible ally and leader to help advance street safety in Medford this year.
Join us to talk to Councilor Lazzaro about what she’s learned about the issue of safe streets, and what we can advocate for together both at the city and state level to make our city safer and more community and active-transportation minded as she seeks a second term for office in fall 2025.
Here’s the news!
ACTION ITEM: urgent!
On Tuesday, June 3rd at 11:00 AM, the Joint Committee on Transportation held a public hearing on automated enforcement, one of our two key legislative priorities. The bills—H.3754 and S.2344—would legalize the use of automated speed and red light enforcement in Massachusetts. These critical measures are sponsored by Representatives Owens and Cruz and Senator Brownsberger.
WalkMedford’s Ellery Klein and City Councilor testified in person in favor of this bill, along with MassBike's Executive Director Galen Mook and members of the MA VisionZero Coalition: WalkMassachusetts Executive Director Brendan Kearney, Senior Policy Director Peter Wilson from Transportation for Massachusetts, and Executive Director Emily Stein from Safe Roads Alliance. Mayor Lungo-Koehn wrote a letter in support of this bill as well on behalf of the people of Medford.
Action: Currently, Massachusetts law does not allow its use—even though evidence shows that automated enforcement reduces crashes by up to 50% at dangerous intersections and along high-speed corridors.
Please write in favor of this change by Tuesday, June 17: You may submit testimony via email attachment to Alex Chilton alexande...@masenate.gov) and Siobhán Morrissey at (Siobhan....@mahouse.gov) or you may physically mail testimony to the Senate Chair.
More information on what to write in support of the bill can be found on WalkMedford’s Facebook page.
Some updates:
The MassDOT meeting on the improvements at the Main and South corridor was on April 23. The overwhelming feeling is that the agency listened to the public’s many concerns about the design, and made many changes boosting the walking and cycling infrastructure and safety, while rolling back an alarming proposal to expand the roadway from four car lanes to five. Ellery Klein of WalkMedford urged the panel to design the street with the goal of encouraging drivers to adhere to Medford’s 25 mph citywide limit.
The deadline for public comment on the 25% completion is now closed, but our advocacy is not over!
From MWRA:
MyRWA has received generous funding to produce a plan, bringing together community members and stakeholders over the course of 2025 to identify accessibility and ecological improvements for the eastern shoreline of the Mystic Lakes, as well as the Mystic River in West Medford. To aid the plan’s development, MyRWA is using robust community feedback gathered as part of the Mystic Lakes Path process in 2024 to inform the plan’s Mystic Lakes segment, while a community engagement process in 2025 will help to guide our process for the West Medford segment. Learn more at mysticriver.org/mysticshoreline.
Good news!! The Clippership Connector should be finally open this summer!!! When we get a definite date, MRWA will begin working with WalkMedford and the city/DCR on a community bike and ribbon-cutting event, as well as a “back to school” ride event in September
MassDOT will be hosting a public meeting on the bridge across the Mystic at the Everett Casino. WalkMedford joined other groups a few years ago to lobby for a wider bridge that would truly be able to handle the prospective mix of cyclists, people walking and sightseeing on this bridge, and this request was also honored. They will be presenting the plans at
When: Tues June 24, 6:30pm-8pm
Where: Somerville High School, Highlander Forum
81 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143
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While not directly in Medford, this bridge will enhance connectivity for many of the bike paths in Medford and allow much better access from Everett to Somerville and on to the city, etc
From traffic engineer Todd Blake: The City and its consultant will have a public meeting to discuss possible Salem St. corridor layouts to solicit feedback on ped/bike. At this time, the tentative date is June 26th.
Response from MassDOT and DCR to the city request from last December on the reduction in speed limits: MassDOT’s response is disappointing but not entirely unexpected. We feel it was important to document this request as coming from the city for slower speeds. The response, in effect, documented the fact that MassDOT operates roads that were originally designed to facilitate dangerous speeds by drivers. They indicated a willingness to lower some speeds slightly, but still not to levels safe for all road users. Others, they are refusing to change the signed speed.
DCR has yet to respond, which according to state law empowers the city of Medford to take action ourselves; we have not done so.
Fellsway West: there have been two alarming incidents on the SRTS walks, in fall 2024 and spring 2025. Each time the children and the leaders were preparing to stop; someone stopped and someone else didn’t. In the spring incident, it caused a four car pileup. In both incidents, we are grateful that there wasn’t injury or death of our students, but the status quo is unacceptable along this parkway. There has been some discussion with DCR about these incidents.
There is a million dollar SRTS project going in on this road; one RFFB is already in place. While it does help a little, the unreasonable speeds on this road must be addressed if families are going to feel safe letting their kids cross the road. WalkMedford hopes to push for public input and action along this road.
Check out MassDOT’s “Next Generation” plan and vision for walking and biking in our region https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massdot-next-generation-pedestrian-and-bicycle-vision-map
Crash data portal: https://apps.crashdata.dot.mass.gov/cdp/home
From our friends and fellow advocates at WalkMassachusetts:
“Just wanted to let you know the WalkMassachusetts statewide fatal crashes from 2024 report is now out. We added a 'spotlight' section for Medford (that link goes directly to that section), and mentioned Medford in my quote for the press release.
Full report – https://walkmass.org/fatal-pedestrian-crashes-in-ma-2024/ report is best viewed on the direct StoryMap:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5df8a9bcf00d4233887972a4cd918444”
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From the city: help decide the future of EV charging in a survey. The city has asked WalkMedford to help get the word out about this survey.
Note: While we at WalkMedford continue to support the transition to EVs, we also continue to support building up non-car, low carbon alternatives through funding more bike racks and lanes/paths, more transit service and amenities, and walkability.
For the cost of one EV car charger, we could install about 80 new bike racks around the city. However, the transition to EV vehicles is part of a comprehensive push away from fossil fuels, along with mode shift to bikes, transit and walking.
“We’re Bringing EV Charging to Your Community!
The City of Medford is partnering with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) to explore on-street electric vehicle charging solutions for residents without access to off-street parking. This initiative supports our commitment to clean transportation and a greener future.
Tell us what you think by taking a quick survey!
Rate proposed locations
Share sites that may have been overlooked
Share your preferences and concerns
Your feedback is crucial to ensure that charging infrastructure is accessible, equitable, and convenient for all City of Medford residents and business.”
Fact check - Why slower speeds are important:
How long does it take to stop at certain speeds?
