Arlington Selectmen Back Signal Timing Changes

Arlington pedestrians will now be able to cross the street a little more safely in Arlington Center.

After an extensive hearing that saw safety complaints from many Arlington residents, selectmen voted unanimously to change the timing of pedestrian crossing signals at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Jason Street, and Mill Street.

Under the new set-up, pedestrians will all cross simultaneously while traffic on Jason and Mill streets will both get green lights at the same time.

According to the Traffic Advisory Commission (TAC) co-chairman Jeff Maxtutis, the town changed this intersection on Sept. 28 to a new traffic pattern, which gives pedestrians a few seconds to start across the crosswalk before traffic is allowed to proceed.

Arlington resident Donna Maurer started a petition to have the selectmen vote to revert the crosswalks at the Massachusetts Avenue, Jason Street, and Mill Street intersection back to the exclusive pedestrian crossing it was in the past. Maurer’s petition garnered nearly 700 online signatures on Change.org before the Board of Selectmen meeting.

The issue dates back to 2013 when the Traffic Advisory Commission (TAC) made a recommendation to the board that included so-called “split phasing” so that the traffic from Mill Street and Jason Street run separately with no conflicts. That was going to provide a three-second advance for pedestrians crossing Massachusetts Avenue, concurrently with vehicles turning right from Mill and Jason streets.

The initial change was brought about by a high accident rate when Jason Street and Mill Street ran at the same time, higher than statewide crash rates. The TAC said the changes “would significantly improve overall safety” and traffic flow at the intersection.

But the recent vote proves that the intersection is not operating as it was intended to.