Needham’s effort to create an MBTA Quiet Zone through town streets stalled on Sept. 24 after staff and the Quiet Zone working group said they had not received the MBTA-level guidance and approvals required to move from preliminary design to a construction-ready plan.

Town staff and working-group members presented a 10% design-level cost estimate that was roughly double earlier feasibility estimates, largely because more extensive signal, sidewalk and intersection upgrades were needed once the MBTA’s design and signal requirements were taken into account. DPW staff said changes included upgraded crossing signals, additional pedestrian stanchions and sidewalk work to accommodate modern gate and signal equipment. Town staff said the design required information they did not yet receive from the MBTA or the MBTA’s operator (Keolis) about their capital plans and whether MBTA would accept or share in modifications.

"We were not ready to advance anything to the October special town meeting," town staff said, explaining that a construction appropriation would have been premature without an agreed path for constructing work on MBTA-owned infrastructure. The Quiet Zone working group recommended pulling the construction article from the October warrant and pursuing a smaller feasibility study step that could define options such as a culvert under the tracks at the golf-course crossing.

The Select Board voted to withdraw the Quiet Zone construction appropriation articles from the October warrant; the board and staff said they will continue outreach to MBTA leadership and seek regional peer support from municipalities that have implemented Quiet Zones. Staff also proposed, and later the board supported, a reduced feasibility study request to evaluate options (including an underpass/culvert at the golf course crossing) and to gather more precise cost, drainage and right-of-way information.

Board and working-group members said the town remains committed to pursuing a Quiet Zone but emphasized the work requires MBTA coordination on technical standards and capital priorities before a construction vote at Town Meeting.