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Traffic council approves package of special speed regulations for two dozen Newton streets
Summary
At its July 1 meeting the Newton Traffic Council approved a large package of special-speed regulation documents for about two dozen streets and flagged a mapping correction in one draft. Most items passed unanimously and will be forwarded to MassDOT for final signature before the city updates its Traffic and Parking Regulations.
The Newton Traffic Council unanimously approved a broad package of special speed-regulation documents on July 1, voting to send draft language to the state for finalization and to update the city's Traffic and Parking Regulations once MassDOT signs off.
David Koses, transportation coordinator and traffic council chair, opened the meeting and said the packet included individual special-speed regulation drafts from MassDOT for about two dozen streets, including Cherry Street, Lake Avenue, North Street (Newtonville), Tremont Street and others. Koses said the council had earlier voted to rescind certain regulatory speed limits and requested MassDOT split the changes into separate documents so each street could be processed individually.
The council addressed a mapping discrepancy raised during public comment about Cherry Street: Jen Halverson noted the draft described an intersection with Watertown Street where the record should say Washington Street. Staff members, including Director of Transportation Ned Cod, confirmed the draft should read Washington Street and asked the council to notify MassDOT of the correction. After that clarification the council revoted on TC 2826 (TPR 1048) and approved it 5'to'00.
The meeting proceeded through the packet with brief motions and roll-call votes on each item. Danielle Delaney, committee clerk, read the item list into the record while the council moved through motions to adopt the language provided in the MassDOT drafts. The council recorded unanimous approvals (5'to'00) on most items and indicated they will forward the approved language to MassDOT and wait for the agency's signature before entering the new formats into the city's official Traffic and Parking Regulations and removing any corresponding regulatory speed-limit signs.
Ned Cod, director of transportation, explained the procedural back-and-forth with MassDOT and said the state's format requires each street to be separately documented, which triggered the lengthy list of individual items. He noted some of the historic regulatory limits date from several decades ago.
The council also handled a group of previously held items about removing or reducing regulatory speed limits; after roll calls those items were recorded as "no action necessary." All recorded votes in the packet were unanimous.
The council concluded the morning session after completing the packet and said they will implement the approved changes once MassDOT provides its final signatures and the city enters the updated regulations into the TPR.
