Standing Committee on Traffic and Parking - 10/28/2026

The City of Worcester Standing Committee on Traffic and Parking met on October 28, 2026, to consider parking, signage, traffic-calming, pedestrian-safety, and roadway-control petitions. The committee approved or recommended several measures, including accessible parking spaces, no-parking restrictions near intersections and driveways, school-hour parking restrictions on Ward Street, and a crosswalk with a rapid-flashing beacon to be incorporated into planned Massasoit Road improvements. It also filed or held various petitions for further review. The committee’s discussion of restoring two-way traffic on Acton Street identified additional engineering and signal-detection analysis; a councilor said the work could be funded from CSX Grafton Hill funds, and the committee voted to hold the item pending further study.

Other follow-up actions included a chair’s order to evaluate speed humps on Apthorpe Street, with police traffic monitoring and enforcement also planned; review of traffic-calming measures and speed-hump data on Valley Hill Drive; and consideration of flex posts and longer-term curb extensions at Hamilton Street and Fairmont Avenue. The committee reported that it received a Safe Routes to Schools grant to implement a signing and pavement-marking plan near Columbus Park Preparatory Academy, but no grant amount was stated. It also approved one permanent speed monitor on Belmont Street eastbound, subject to funding, and requested protected left-turn signal phasing at Mountain Street pending funding. No contract awards, vendor selections, or specific purchasing decisions were identified.