LETTER: Don’t Let Add-A-Lane Become Add-A-Pain

To the editor:

Don’t let Add-A-Lane become add-a-pain.

1. Three traffic lights stopping traffic on Route 9 at Route 128!

2. Two of the four cloverleaves of this currently functional intersection plucked out!

3. Balking drivers criss-crossing through Newton’s neighborhoods, seeking a faster route, disrupting traffic patterns across the city.

The controversy over the Route 9 – Route 128/95 intersection is coming to a head, and it is important for everyone to get educated and involved RIGHT NOW. On March 6 the Public Safety and Transportation Committee of the City of Newton Board of Aldermen is meeting with representatives of the Mass Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) who will present their current plan for the redesign of the intersection in the final step of the Add-A-Lane Project.

Earlier articles in on the internet have pointed out the serious deficiencies of the draft plan. This meeting may be your last chance to make your interest known. We urge you to attend this meeting on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:45 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers on the second floor of Newton City Hall. 

--Sallee Lipshutz and Maureen Reilly-Meagher, concerned citizens