Dedham Receives Transportation Grant To Improve Traffic Signals In Dedham Square

DEDHAM, MA - Dedham is working to reduce traffic bottlenecks in town, thanks to a grant the town received from the Massachusetts Department of Transporation, the town announced Thursday.

Dedham was selected for funding from MassDOT in the FY 2022 funding round after the town's engineering department submitted an application with the assistance of municipal planning and engineering firm BETA Group as part of the Local Bottleneck Reduction Program. The town competed with communities from across the state.

The Local Bottleneck Reduction Program began in 2021 and is administered by MassDOT. This program seeks to fund innovative solutions to address congestion bottlenecks on local roadways to improve traffic flow. Locations for improvement are proposed by municipalities and considered by MassDOT for funding through a competitive application process.

Dedham’s application included the following signalized intersections in the downtown area: High Street and Ames Street/Court Street; High Street and Washington Street/Eastern Avenue and High Street; East Street/Harris Street and High Street at East Street/Harvard Street.

Proposed modifications include the installation of video detection at the intersection of High Street and Ames Street/Court Street. There will also be minor signal retiming and replacement of existing traffic signal controllers at the three signals included in the application so that traffic signal timings can be adjusted throughout the day with a specific emphasis on the peak periods.

The proposed improvements seek to enhance vehicular operations maintaining the existing lane usage and signal phasing to help reduce bottlenecks while maintaining pedestrian safety. These proposed modifications, to be installed by MassDOT, are estimated to cost $100,000.

MassDOT anticipates implementing the proposed modifications this summer.