Commission tables two MBTA Galen Street safety plans

Traffic Commission · Meeting of September 30, 2026

WATERTOWN — The Watertown Traffic Commission tabled two MBTA bus safety proposals for Galen Street pending further study. MBTA Project Manager Eileen Body presented "quick build" fixes for Technology Way and the Watertown Square busway terminal, calling them "small tactical improvements intended to be light engineering." Commissioners, including Nathan Chin and the city's senior transportation planner, Zeke Vermella, asked the MBTA to expand its review to the nearby Water Street intersection and revise a painted median near the busway. Separately, the commission approved handicap parking at 17 Berkeley Street, restored pre-construction traffic patterns near Watertown Middle School, and approved Columbia Street parking changes for Watertown High School.

A Beth Israel Lahey Health request for parking at 480 Pleasant Street, where practice manager Deborah Terrell said "the same cars are there" all day on unenforced one-hour spaces, was tabled for further DPW study.

In the full story:

• Roll Call and Prior Minutes
• 17 Berkeley Street: Handicap Parking Request
• 480 Pleasant Street: Beth Israel Lahey Health Parking Request
• Watertown Middle School: Restoring Pre-Modular Traffic Patterns
• Watertown High School: Columbia Street Parking Changes
• MBTA Hot Spot Initiative: Galen Street at Technology Way
• MBTA Hot Spot Initiative: Galen Street at Watertown Square Busway Terminal
• New Business: Winter Street Safety Review
• Adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,998 words

Source: the Traffic Commission meeting of September 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.