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Somerville redesigns Tufts Street to make neighborhood cut-throughs less appealing
Curb extensions and narrow pinch points on Tufts Street are intended to slow drivers using Somerville side streets to bypass Boston traffic. Residents say the changes have reduced noise, though drivers must take turns passing through the narrowed sections.
Somerville has redesigned a stretch of Tufts Street to slow drivers who use neighborhood roads as shortcuts around Boston traffic, adding curb extensions and narrowed sections that require vehicles to yield to one another.
The Tufts Street Neighborway recently opened as part of the city’s effort to make residential streets safer and less attractive as through-routes for drivers following GPS directions. The street changes are also intended to give people walking and biking a more comfortable route.
At the narrowed points, raised curbs create a single-lane passage where drivers must stop and let an oncoming vehicle through. Resident John Chandler described the interaction as “a game of chicken,” but said he believes the design is working. He told WBZ-TV that he hears substantially less car noise on the street.
Somerville City Councilor Matthew McLaughlin said physical changes to the road can make speeding and cut-through driving less convenient. Neighborways, he said, are side streets that can function as informal walking and biking routes.
Bill Trudell, who rode to the street from Arlington to try it out, said cars and large trucks have been speeding along neighborhood roads, creating a risk of crashes. McLaughlin estimated that traffic on Tufts Street would travel about 10 miles per hour faster without the changes.
The city’s approach does not prohibit drivers from using the street. Instead, the pinch points are designed to slow vehicles and give people biking priority, addressing safety concerns on roads not built to carry heavy through-traffic.