Grafton St. Gridlock May Be Relieved By Roosevelt School Lot Project

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester Public Schools may soon break ground on a relatively small parking lot project that might have big ramifications for traffic along Grafton Street.

The district will soon go before the Conservation Commission as the first step in getting city approvals to build a new parking lot behind Roosevelt Elementary School along Sunderland Road. The 10.2-acre lot would be designed to move traffic away from the Roosevelt school entrance along Grafton Street — frequently jammed during mornings and afternoons when drivers cram into a driveway across Grafton from AP Fish Seafood Market, among other traffic problems.

The lot was the focus of a heated debate at a May 2023 city council meeting after At-Large Councilor Khrystian King asked what was happening with the project after he heard concerns about traffic during school pickup and dropoff times.

District 3 Councilor George Russell, whose district Roosevelt is in, said this week he's been working with the school committee and City Manager Eric Batista over the last 10 months to secure funding for the project.

During the debate, Russell called the situation along Grafton Street near the school a "public safety catastrophe" waiting to happen. School traffic, he said, causes such bad gridlock along Grafton Street, emergency vehicles could get stuck.

Councilors also raised concerns about pedestrian safety in the area during high traffic times. Although not completely related to school traffic, a signalized crosswalk was installed in front of the school after Gabriella Lowell was hit and killed by a texting driver in 2018.

According to the district, the project will be funded by $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, plus money from the district's capital budget. The city purchased the land where the lot will stand for $600,000 and transferred the property to the school.

The new lot will feature 41 spaces and its own driveway. The project also includes milling and resurfacing existing parking lots, and redoing a portion of the sidewalk along Sunderland Road. The project is going before the Conservation Commission first because of its proximity to stormwater drains.