This map shows the approximate locations of several recently named services roads associated withe the Route 2 project in Lincoln (click to enlarge).
By Alice Waugh
Four of the service roads associated with the Route 2 construction project have been named by the Board of Selectmen.
Along the north side of Route 2, Lincoln now has Horses Crossing just west of Brooks Road and Emerson Road on the east side. Red Maple Lane now runs along the south side of Route 2 starting just west of Bedford Road, and Oak Knoll (formerly a dead end) now extends all the way from the south side of Route 2 to its new intersection with Bedford Road.
The names were approved by the Board of Selectmen in December after officials solicited suggestions from abutting property owners. History played a part in the decisions; Emerson Road recalls noted author and area resident Ralph Waldo Emerson, while Horses Crossing stems from the fact that it’s close to a spot where horses used to cross the road that later became Route 2.
Red Maple Lane is “in keeping with the tree theme up in the area” and with the plan to plant more red maples as part of the landscape improvement project that will take place as construction is finishing, said Town Administrator Tim Higgins.
Still under discussion is the small road at the northwest intersection of Bedford Road and Route 2 just north of the curving exit ramp. One of the property owners suggested Haven Road or Haven Way, which seemed “kind of out of left field,” Selectman Renel Fredriksen said at the board’s December 16 meeting. Higgins will contact the owner to ask him or her for the “philosophy” behind the suggestion and also to see if “Road” or “Way” is preferable.
Two more roads at the western end of the project area eventually will have to be named as well. One of them, located on the south side of the highway stretching from Meriam’s Corner to just across from Brooks Road, will include properties that are now on Old Cambridge Turnpike but will be getting new addresses.
Although the town is now maintaining the roads, the new names will not take effect until spring, after the town has sent formal notices to property owners and the names are recorded at the state Registry of Deeds, Higgins said.