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Revere City advances Harris Street pilot on Dec. 6 despite resident calls for delay
Summary
City staff outlined a temporary lane-conversion pilot on Harris Street and adjacent intersections beginning Dec. 6 with 90 days of data collection; residents and councilors pressed for more community outreach and suggested postponing the pilot until spring.
Revere City staff presented a lane-conversion pilot for Harris Street and nearby intersections at the Dec. 1 City Council meeting and said data collection would begin Dec. 6 followed by a 90-day trial and a subsequent 90-day review period. The presentation described changes to northbound and southbound operations, potential one-way conversions for segments of Harris Street, and related adjustments at the Bell Circle to improve flow on Route 16.
The planning director (on the record as the city’s planning lead; name not given) said the pilot builds on mitigation work dating to 2019–2024 and emphasized coordination with the Department of Public Works, police and outside consultants. He said baseline counts (24– and 48-hour collections at key intersections) will be taken and staff will review operations after the 90-day period.
Residents at the meeting urged the council to delay implementation. A public commenter said communication to residents has been insufficient and warned the changes would displace traffic onto narrow residential streets such as Soul Street, Elm Street and Low Street. “No hay comunicación,” the commenter said, adding that the community was not given information in meeting packets and that the changes will increase traffic and reduce on-street parking.
Councilors asked staff how enforcement and safety would be handled on day one. The planning director said police would be deployed to support drivers during the initial transition, and staff said they are coordinating with utilities and other departments to finalize signage and enforcement plans. Several councilors proposed delaying the pilot until April so counts would not be skewed by winter travel patterns and holiday traffic; staff replied the staged collection and review schedule would allow adjustments after the trial period.
Concerns raised by commenters included bus routing, emergency vehicle access, signal phasing at the Bell Circle and potential loss of resident parking. Staff acknowledged those concerns and said further public meetings could be scheduled after the initial data collection window to present results and consider refinements. The pilot’s stated intent is to test whether lane conversions and intersection adjustments can reduce peak congestion on Route 16 while minimizing impacts to adjacent neighborhoods.
The council did not record a roll-call vote on the pilot in the public transcript; staff described the pilot schedule and next steps for monitoring and community outreach.
The city plans to collect baseline traffic volumes at multiple locations, monitor the pilot for 90 days, then return to the council and community with results and recommendations for permanence or reversal.
