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Somerville staff weigh speed-feedback signs versus capital rebuild on Shore Drive

October 28, 2025 | Somerville City, Middlesex County, Massachusetts


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Somerville staff weigh speed-feedback signs versus capital rebuild on Shore Drive
Councilors raised a request that the director of mobility install a solar-powered "Your Speed" feedback sign on westbound Shore Drive. Councilors said residents and neighborhood presidents have raised speeding concerns on the corridor.

Brad Rosson, director of mobility, said staff have collected data on Shore Drive and that while speed-feedback signs can help, physical traffic-calming measures (for example, raised table intersections) are typically more effective. Rosson described a larger capital project, developed with the Mystic River Watershed Association, intended to rebuild parts of Shore Drive with features that could include curb changes, green stormwater infrastructure and traffic-calming elements. He said the city hopes to start construction in calendar year 2026.

Rosson also noted where a feedback sign would be sited may conflict with planned landscaping and stormwater planters, and that most of the city's existing feedback signs are solar powered but the detailed inventory is maintained by the Parking Department. He said feedback signs tend to be effective for six to 12 months before drivers habituate to them and compliance drops.

Committeeors asked whether signs are available in inventory and about the capital project's schedule; staff said they would follow up with specifics. The committee marked the item complete.

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Scribe from Workplace AI
Scribe from Workplace AI