Salem Bus Route Change Shuts Out Shetland Office Park Neighborhood

SALEM, MA — A scheduled change to the 455 MBTA bus route through Salem will cut off public transportation to the city's "most dense, highest-poverty neighborhood" and "one of our largest employment sites," according to Mayor Dominick Pangallo.

Pangallo said he was disappointed in the MBTA's decision to short the route to eliminate stops in the Shetland Office Park neighborhood and urged the transportation agency to reconsider the change.

Pangallo said in a social media post that the stops being eliminated include ones that serve a community health center, a community room, a food pantry, a public park and a future school resource center.

The Salem Traffic and Parking Department said the change will begin on Sunday. As of then, the 455 Route will no longer make stops along Congress Street and Leavitt Streets on weekdays, and will instead travel along Lafayette Street between Derby and Leavitt on all days.

The MBTA released a notice and graphic involving the change here:

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)