Somerville PTAC Approves March Minutes, Backs Broadway Safety Overhaul This Spring

Finance Committee · Meeting of April 16, 2026

Somerville's pedestrian advisory committee backed a spring quick-build safety project on Broadway and began organizing for upcoming MBTA bus network changes. The Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee, chaired by Alessandra, heard Transportation Planner Greg Hanson detail a design for the stretch of Broadway between Simpson Avenue and Wallace and Leonard Streets, where 85th-percentile vehicle speeds reached above 30 mph and only 70 percent of drivers yielded to pedestrians. The project will install centerline flex posts, restrict parking near intersections to improve sightlines, and eliminate a bus stop at Broadway and Leonard Street that averaged fewer than two riders per day and was routinely used by drivers to dangerously pass stopped vehicles.

Eight members raised their hands to join a potential ad hoc subcommittee responding to MBTA proposed service changes — covering routes 80, 85, 88, and 96 — expected to be released at the end of May. The committee also received a summary of DPW Commissioner Eric Weisman's March 18 snow-season review, which covered a winter of 68 inches of snowfall, the most in a decade.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 1,051 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of April 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.