Committee backs Transportation FY26 budget; Lafayette Street safety and traffic-calming pilots highlighted

Christina Hodge, deputy director of transportation, told the committee on May 28 that the department’s mission is to provide “an efficient, reliable, multimodal transportation system” and described program and capital priorities for FY26.

Hodge said staffing levels are largely unchanged but the FY26 budget reflects salary adjustments from AFSCME negotiations, compensation studies and cost-of-living adjustments. She described changes including higher electricity costs and reduced building-equipment maintenance allocations based on recent spending trends; she also noted additional part-time staff around the Halloween/Haunted Happenings season.

Hodge reviewed ongoing programs and system changes: the department operates the Salem Skipper on-demand rideshare service and the Blue Bikes bike-share program, and this year introduced license-plate recognition software for resident-permit parking. On the resident-permit rollout she said the city has helped residents with online and phone assistance and noted access challenges for older residents without phones or computers; enforcement staff have been able to use the new system to speed rounds.

On capital projects Hodge walked the committee through proposed Lafayette Street bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements (parking-protected bike lanes on the southbound side and a painted buffered lane northbound from West Avenue toward Harborview Terrace), a Washington Square East/Boardman crosswalk design and a permanent traffic-calming program in the Point neighborhood. She described the traffic-calming line as creating permanent versions of prior temporary pilot installations; pilots remain a tool to test concepts before permanent implementation.

Hodge said the department is pursuing grant opportunities for several projects: a shared-streets and spaces grant decision is pending for part of the Lafayette project; the Jefferson-Jackson redesign is being pursued through a Community One Stop grant; Salem Street sidewalks near Saltonstall School are a possible CDBG application; and a submitted MPO design funding request for Broad Street/Dalton Parkway is under reconsideration.

On multimunicipal programs, Hodge said Salem accounts for about 80% of Skipper system trips and that Danvers and Beverly continue to contribute under the original agreement. She said the Blue Bikes program was partially supported by grant funds in the coming year; Salem Skipper produces some revenue but the local contribution was not increased in this budget.

Councilor Stott moved to recommend approval of the Transportation personnel budget ($1,320,445) and expenditures ($458,035) for a department total of $1,778,480; Councilor Harvey seconded and Chair Merkel noted four hands plus his own in favor. The committee discussed timelines for specific CIP projects and asked staff to provide detailed schedules and cost estimates where those were preliminary.