The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

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Updates on multitude of issues planned for State of the Town

An agenda chock-full of information and discussion about issues affecting Lincoln’s future will greet residents at the State of the Town meeting on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in the Lincoln School auditorium. The event offers informational updates on important issues in town and (in some cases) a preview of measures that will come up for votes at the Annual Town Meeting in spring 2018.

The first 90 minutes will consist of presentations the two proposed campus building projects: the Lincoln School building project and the Community Center project. Recent Lincoln Squirrel articles on these topics include:

Other agenda items are below, and are also discussed in the latest Selectmen’s Newsletter. There will then be an open forum from 11:40 a.m.–noon and an opportunity to talk to representatives of the groups who presented during the meeting at information/discussion tables from 12:30–1 p.m.

Lincoln Station

The South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee is studying improvements to the Lincoln Station area as well as possible rezoning, though a proposed zoning bylaw change is not likely by spring. There are five teams working on different topics for SLPIC, which reports to the Planning Board.

Plastic bags and bottles

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Environmental Club is revisiting its push to regulate the sale of disposable plastic grocery bags and single-use plastic water bottles in Lincoln. Warrant articles were tabled in Town Meeting in 2017 but passed in Sudbury. Town Meeting will feature either warrant articles or a general bylaw change proposal.

Recreational marijuana

The Board of Selectmen is forming a committee to help the town understand the 2016 statewide measure that legalized the cultivation, personal use and retail sale of recreational marijuana. The group will assess the law’s implications for Lincoln and make recommendations regarding potential policies, bylaws and regulations that may be desired and/or required to protect the town’s interests. Town Administrator Timothy Higgins said this week that a bylaw proposal may come up at a Special Town Meeting later in 2018 rather than the annual spring meeting.

To learn more about the committee, contact Higgins at 781-259-2604 or higginst@lincolntown.org. To apply, submit a letter of interest to Administrative Assistant Peggy Elder at elderp@lincolntown.org.

At Town Meeting in 2017, residents approved a moratorium on allowing use of land or structures for recreational marijuana establishments until November 30, 2018 pending new regulations from the Cannabis Control Commission and possible zoning amendments in Lincoln.

Historic District

The Historic District Commission and Friends of Modern Architecture are working with property owners interested in adding their Modern houses to the Lincoln Historic District. At Town Meeting, residents will vote on a proposal that would allow at least 17 owners of Modern homes to voluntarily join the Lincoln Historic District. The district currently consists of 73 properties in four different areas.

Sanctuary Town

A planned Town Meeting measure seeks to make Lincoln an official Sanctuary Town, which organizers hope will safeguard illegal immigrants in Lincoln from federal immigration enforcement and otherwise help immigrants feel protected

Mothers Out Front

This group has been working on local responses to climate change such as curbing greenhouse gas emissions by fixing gas leaks from underground pipes. Members are expected to propose a resolution at Town Meeting calling for the repair of utilities’ leaking gas pipes.

Community center group selects architect

The Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee (CCPPDC) has selected the firm of Maryann Thompson Architects to help design a proposal for a community center for Lincoln.

Massachusetts work by the Cambridge-based firm includes designs for the Atrium School in Watertown, the Broad Institute in Cambridge, the Walden Pond visitors’ center, and Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester. The firm is already working closely with SMMA Architects, which was hired to design the Lincoln School project.

The CCPPDC and the School Building Committee will present updates at the State of the Town meeting on November 4. By that time, “we want the two architectural firms to have spoken quite a bit and start aligning their processes and procedures, and maybe put a couple of community forums on the calendar,” said CCPPDC Vice Chair Margit Griffith.

Maryann Thompson Architects should have a proposed basic design for a community center along with firm cost estimates ready before an anticipated Special Town Meeting in June, when residents will be asked to vote on a school design, Griffith said. If and when residents decide to pursue the community center project, the town will ask for bids from firms to do the detailed design. “They’re not producing a plan for a community center that people vote on [in June] and break ground on,” she said.

The CCPPDC is drafting a timeline in conjunction with the SBC with “key choice points for decisions and deliverables by the architect,” said committee Chair Ellen Meyer Shorb. Designing a school and a community center simultaneously is “a really difficult, complex process that no one has done before, but the bottom line is to include the town early and often.”

 

 

 

Interactive website brings residents into South Lincoln planning

A screen shot of the South Lincoln revitalization website at courb.co/lincoln.

Using a new interactive website, residents can look at a map of South Lincoln, see some of the improvements being discussed, and add their own comments and suggestions.

The project page at courb.co/lincoln was created for the Lincoln Planning Board and the South Lincoln Planning Implementation Committee (SLPIC), which are working to make the area around Lincoln Station a vibrant, walkable and sustainable village center. Officials can post updates and respond to comments by residents as part of the public process, which also includes in-person workshops and events.

The project team behind the website can drop a “pin” on certain areas of the map to invite discussion. For example, when users click on one of pins, it opens a text box saying “If this underutilized green space next to Donelan’s and Lincoln Woods was revitalized, what events would you like to see held here?” Residents can then post and read each other’s responses, much like the comments section at the bottom of a blog post, or add their own pins to start discussion on another specific area of South Lincoln. Participants receive a notification when the project team replies.

The town was recently awarded a $400,000 Complete Streets grant for 10 projects in town, some of which include including signs, roadway markings, crosswalks, bike racks, and informational kiosks in South Lincoln. One of the website pins asks residents where they wold like to see these kiosks located.

The web platform was created by coUrbanize, a startup founded by urban planners from MIT with the goal of supplementing the traditional community process that planners use by connecting people online. “Traditional planning workshops are important, but they can be a challenge for many people to attend,” said coUrbanize co-founder Karin Brandt. “By using technology to reach people and lowering the bar to participation, we can ensure that more voices are heard.”

News acorns

Public hearings coming up

  • The Lincoln Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10 to review an application for a sign permit. The applicant, Sujit Sitole, proposes to construct a directory sign at 152 Lincoln Rd.
  • The Lincoln Historical Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. to consider the application of Ventianni, LLC to demolish two garden sheds at 144 Sandy Pond Rd.

DeCordova hosts after-school program, nursery school open house

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is offering a new Art + Nature After School
drop-off program on five Thursdays for kids ages 7–11 from 3:30–5 p.m. starting on October 12 and running through November 9. Join artist and nature educator Ann Wynne this fall as we are inspired by five artists’ processes and visions. We will play, move, build, and see like outdoor sculptors. Click here to see the deCordova’s calendar of fall family programs.

The Lincoln Nursery School (LNS) in deCordova’s grounds will hold an open house on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 9–11 a.m. Tour the studios and play areas on deCordova’s campus and meet LNS faculty. For families with children ages 2.9 to kindergarten.

Open Studio library exhibit reception

There will be an artists’ reception at the Lincoln Public Library on Tuesday, Oct. 12 from 4:30–7 p.m. as part of the Lincoln Open Studio exhibit being shown in library’s main gallery until October 28. Offered through the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department, Open Studio meets weekly for a five-hour block. The group welcomes newcomers of all skill levels and media (except turpentine-based oils). We meet during the school year on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. in Hartwell B-10. For more information, call Lincoln Parks and Recreation at 781-259-0784), or email Sarah Chester (schester636@gmail.com) or Joan Seville (joanseville1@gmail.com), and stop by at noon on Thursdays to say hello.

Apply for Lincoln Cultural Council grants

The Lincoln Cultural Council (LCC) invites applications for its 2017-18 grant cycle. Proposals for community-oriented arts, humanities, and science programs are due by Monday, Oct. 16. These grants support artistic projects and activities in Lincoln including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies, performances in schools, workshops, and lectures. The Lincoln Cultural Council is especially interested in receiving grants to support performances and programs about local history and environmental issues.

The LCC is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which then allocates funds to each community. This year, the Lincoln Cultural Council will distribute about $4,400 in grants. Application forms and more information are available at www.mass-culture.org. For local guidelines and complete information on the LCC, contact council Chair Julie Dobrow at jdobrow111@gmail.com.

Residents plead for restricted access to Old Winter St.

Old Winter Street area residents showed up in force at a recent selectmen’s meeting to argue for a sign limiting rush-hour access to the road, but the board deferred a decision for a month to gather more data.

At issue is Old Winter Street, which northbound afternoon commuters sometimes use to “jump the queue” and bypass some of the traffic stopped on Winter Street where it meets Trapelo Road. Residents said this is dangerous for several reasons: drivers turning into Old Winter Street drive too fast, the road is very narrow, and cars sometimes back up on the road before it rejoins Winter Street, blocking driveways and creating two lines of stopped cars leading up to Trapelo Road.

The Roadway and Traffic Committee (RTC) made a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen in 2015 and again this summer to put a “No Left Turn 4 to 7 p.m.” sign on Winter Street northbound as it approaches the southern end of Old Winter Street for a six-month trial period. The board declined the request in 2015, saying that the town’s public roads are open to all and expressing concern about setting a precedent for similar situations in Lincoln.

Earlier this year, the RTC made the recommendation again. Selectmen didn’t make a decision in June pending a new memo from the RTC, but they were reluctant to reverse the decision of the previous board.

“If nothing has changed and we’re getting the same request again, it’s almost akin to judge-shopping or forum-shopping,” Selectman James Craig said at the time. He reiterated that sentiment on September 25, saying, “What’s changed other than the fact that we have three new members here and the neighborhood is hoping to get a different result?”

RTC chair Ken Bassett noted that his group had renewed the request “primarily because this committee tries to help neighborhoods when it can” and that the situation was unique in the sense that restricting access to Old Winter Street would not create a new problem elsewhere. “This is not a part of that network in the sense that it doesn’t take you any place new,” he said.

The issue is not so much one of excessive speed as traffic volume, Police Chief Kevin Kennedy said, adding that recent observations did not reveal a dramatic backup onto Old Winter Street.

But residents were not mollified, saying that police and the town’s traffic engineer had not focused on the southern intersection of the two roads.

Conditions have in fact changed in the last two years, said Mike McLaughlin of 5 Old Winter St. More people are using smartphone apps to find local roads that will help them avoid congestion, and there are also more young children on Old Winter Street.

“People will come flying off Winter Street as soon as they see a backup at that bump. I’ve had a bunch of near-misses. I hope to God my kid doesn’t have to be hit to be a safety issue,” he said.

“I’m kind of wondering what the event has to be. You really don’t want a ghost bike on my street,” said Chris Murphy of 34 Old Winter St.

The RTC has twice been “tasked with studying this thoroughly,” said Steve Atlas of 31 Old Winter St. As far as respect for the process, “I feel like we’ve done that here… If we kick it back a third time, I begin to wonder what this process means.”

“This needs to be looked at in a very careful way,” cautioned Peter Braun, one of the selectmen who voted in 2015 not to authorize the sign. The larger issue is traffic to and from businesses in Waltham. Years ago, the town succeeded in having Winter Street made a one-way street near the intersection with Old County Road, but at the same time, the state also deemed the latter to be a state road, which could come back to haunt the town.

“If we start monkeying around with the fragile beast of handling our volume of traffic, my concern is we’re asking for legal problems,” Braun said.

Traffic in town certainly needs to be considered on a macro level, but selectmen have traditionally deferred to the RTC on road safety and signage, such as the decision earlier this year to install two more stop signs at the intersection of Weston and Silver Hills Roads, observed Tim Christenfeld, who lives at 50 Old Winter St.

“Safety, I think, trumps everything as far as I’m concerned…  if it’s a safety issue, we need to consider it, whether it’s been brought before a prior board or not,” Craig said. However, he and the other selectmen opted to ask for more detailed traffic data now that summer is over and decide on the matter at their October 30 meeting.

“Doing due diligence to get fresh information is not kicking the can down the road,” Craig said.

Other neighboring towns have installed no-turn restrictions, including Concord, which prohibits  right turns from Route 2 eastbound onto Sandy Pond Road from 7–9 a.m., noted Jay Donnelly of 35 Old Winter Street. “Quite honestly, I’m ashamed that we continue to debate and have an inability to act, and other towns are acting on our behalf,” he said.

“I feel inclined to go forward with the experiment, but if there’s some useful data we can gather in a defined period of time and be very clear about deadline,” it would be acceptable, Selectmen Jennifer Glass said.

Board approves study of DPW site

The 2014 study by the Planning Board identified four quadrants in South Lincoln as defined by the railroad tracks and Lincoln Road: (1) Codman Farm, (2) the mall, (3) Ridge Road, and (4) Lewis Street. Parcels in red are town-owned land.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to authorize a study of the Department of Public Works site on Lewis Street that would look at options for repurposing the site as part of a potential South Lincoln rezoning effort.

Before the vote, several residents spoke against the study, fearing that the DPW will eventually be relocated to the transfer station site off Route 2A in North Lincoln.

Objections to the proposal by the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee (SLPIC) first arose publicly over the summer. Residents expressed concern about the cost or cleaning up the DPW site, which is used for trucks, road equipment and school buses, as well as the environmental sensitivity of the transfer station site.

Gary Taylor, a member of SLPIC and the Planning Board, asked selectmen to authorize $9,800 to hire civil engineering firm Weston & Sampson to assess the DPW’s functions and needs as well as potential site consolidation (e.g., leaving the DPW on Lewis Street but shrinking its footprint to repurpose some of the land), opportunities for relocating some or all of its functions to another location, and the potential for combining resources for some DPW functions with neighboring towns or MassPort.

Lincoln’s 2010 master plan reiterates a 1999 recommendation to consider redeveloping the DPW site to support housing and commerce, and to “see if it makes sense to include the DPW site in efforts to rezone, revitalize and redevelop in South Lincoln,” Taylor said. The 2014 South Lincoln study also “identified an opportunity to create additional transportation-oriented housing by redeveloping the existing light industrial properties and relocating DPW garage,” he added.

“I think this is a very necessary due diligence as part of any thoughtful planning. I think you have to take a look at this four-acre parcel and see what all the options are,” said Selectman James Craig.

Oakdale Lane resident Keith Hylton repeated the concerns he voiced to the board in July about possible well water contamination from vehicles at the transfer station site and its proximity to the Minute Man National Historical Park (MMNHP). Weston recently built a new DPW faculty that cost $15 million, he said.

“Whatever site you look at, there’s got to be procedures for meaningful involvement by stakeholders early on,” Hylton added.

Some residents wondered why the amount requested was just under the $10,000 threshold that requires the town to solicit competitive bids. Meanwhile, others including MMNHP Resources Program Manager Margie Coffin Brown speculated that $9,800 might not be enough to do a thorough study of the DPW and alternative sites.

The study “really is all about whether or not the land could be put to better use and whether or not it’s feasible to relocate it or consolidate,” Taylor said. Any future rezoning proposal would come only after “a lot of further study” on costs and impacts, and would not occur for at least five to seven years, since the town faces major school and community center projects in the near future, he added.

Mother of driver in bike accident protests ‘ghost bike’

The mother of a teenage driver involved in one of two fatal bike accidents in 2016 vehemently protested plans last week to install a “ghost bike” at the Public Safety building.

Julie Lynch spoke a the Board of Selectmen meeting on September 25 about the pain that both families have gone through since the accident at the intersection of Bedford and Virginia Roads claimed the life of Westford resident Mark Himelfarb in August 2016. Details of the accident were not released while it was being investigated by local and state police and the district attorney’s office—a process that took 13 months before the DA’s office announced on September 12 that no charges would be filed.

The cyclist, while riding north on Virginia Road, “crossed over the yellow centerline deviating from the marked lanes of northbound travel and encroached upon the motorist’s path of travel,” according to the release, adding that the collision occurred in the southbound side of the road.

Shortly after the accident, Concord resident and cyclist Erik Limpaecher installed a “ghost bike” on his own initiative near the accident with a placard saying “M. Himelfarb, father of 2, 8-17-2016, Come to Full Stop,” according to an August 23, 2016 Globe article. Lincoln officials immediately removed the object because it was a safety hazard but also out of respect for the feelings of the driver, who was not at fault.

In June 2017, the family of the victim in the other 2016 accident, Eugene Thornberg, said they would create and donate a ghost bike to remind both motorists and bicyclists about the need to safely share the road. The monument will include a plaque with wording that is not specific to either accident.

But Lynch, the mother of the Virginia Road accident driver, tearfully protested to selectmen that ghost bikes serve to memorialize the bicyclists who are killed and neglect the feelings of the driver and his or her family, especially since the driver is often not at fault. (The Squirrel has also published this letter to the editor she originally submitted on September 23.)

“A middle-aged bicyclist broke the law” by crossing over the center line and striking the side of her daughter’s car, Lynch said. “It was traumatic, it was awful. My child performed CPR.”

Her daughter’s license was suspended while the investigation was ongoing, “and she spent her entire senior year making up excuses to her friends about why she couldn’t drive” because the family was told not to discuss the accident, Lynch added. “They treated her like a criminal for 13 months.

“From the information I’ve seen, most of the serious bike accidents are caused by the bicyclists, not the operators,” Lynch added. “We’re memorializing cyclist error.”

Lincoln “has really gone out of our way as a town and a police department” to be sensitive to all parties involved, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. The ghost bike “is not meant as an editorial comment, it’s not meant as a memorial to any individual—it’s helping to educate the motoring public and the cycling public about the importance of safety.”

Lynch also objected to locating the ghost bike at the Lincoln Public Safety Building. When Higgins said that he had made sure the first ghost bike was quickly removed from the accident site, she cried, “She won’t drive that street any more—it doesn’t matter! But she does drive by the police station… Nobody talked to me about how she would feel about seeing a ghost bike  but I think she deserved to be asked.”

“Your summary of the facts [of the accident] is spot on,” Higgins told Lynch. “We struggled with this issue to get the information out to the community. While the investigation was going on, we were not at liberty to reveal some of the details.”

The investigation into the Thornberg accident revealed that motorist was also not at fault. The bicyclist had pulled up alongside a row of traffic at a stoplight; just as the light turned green, he fell off his bike under the wheel of an stopped truck next to him and was killed when the truck moved forward.

Letter to the editor: ‘think big’ on school campus planning

letter

To the editor:

Let’s think big together on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 8 a.m. or 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym (Ballfield Road community campus).

Lincoln does best when Lincoln thinks big. We were reminded of this last Wednesday at the Bemis Lecture Series, when the Trustees of the Ogden Codman Trust spoke of the history of the Codman Estate, Codman Farm, the Mall at Lincoln Station, and Lincoln Woods.

Years prior to the disposition of the Codman estate, Lincoln had a dream and a plan for the land around the Codman house and beyond. The ideas were big-picture planning and would not necessarily be put in place all at the same time, but there was a grand plan. When the land became available for purchase, the town was ready to act. Public/private partnerships and collaboration with those responsible for managing the settlement of Dorothy Codman’s estate began to implement the plan, piece by piece. First Codman Farm, then Lincoln Woods and the mall, and then more land and fields around them were bought by either the town or the Rural Land Foundation (RLF).

It was a legacy project. Lincoln thought big, and we are all the beneficiaries. Now we are at a crossroads where we have another opportunity—and responsibility—to think big again.

We have major development challenges ahead. We have important open space that must be protected. We’re looking for ways to “revitalize” the mall and Lincoln Station. We will need more town-initiated affordable housing to prevent the kind of 350-unit development now going up in Weston, which could have dramatic negative impacts on schools and budgets. We need to provide services for our seniors to maintain stability in our age-diverse population. And, of pressing importance, we need to rebuild our aging schools.

The community campus, established in 1932 for recreational purposes and expanded to include schools and a town auditorium in 1947, is now offering an opportunity and a challenge to think big again. The town has endorsed rebuilding schools and creating a recreation/community center on this campus. In addition, the campus will continue to host early childhood and after-school programs. But how to make it all work, both in terms of space and budget?

That is where we all need to step up and take a hard, creative look. We need to think big. We need to accept that maybe everything will not and cannot be done at once, but it needs to be planned together. What kind of building(s) will best serve education for the next 25 years? What kind of buildings might be multi-purpose and share space? What kind of buildings would be the most energy-efficient and save money over the long term? What space and building locations work now, and which don’t?

While design professionals will guide the process, Lincoln has always done best when we put our heads together, listen to each other, ask “crazy” questions, think out of the box, and show no fear.

Let’s do just that. Let’s THINK BIG. Let’s take a big step to create another legacy project together on Tuesday, Oct. 3,

Sincerely,

Sara Mattes
71 Conant Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Town gets $400K for roadway improvements

Lincoln has received $400,000 in state funding for 10 projects that are part of a larger effort to improve street safety and accessibility for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Under the Complete Streets program, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) makes available up to $400,000 annually per town for eligible infrastructure projects. To qualify for funding, a municipality must develop a Complete Streets policy and a prioritization plan of desired improvements. Lincoln’s policy, which was approved in January 2017, received a score of 93 out of 100. Only 22 of 48 Massachusetts communities that applied this year received funding.

The grant does not cover design or studies. The town already received a $50,000 grant for technical help in creating its application and Complete Streets policy, and any project design costs will come from Chapter 90 state funding, said Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney, who was a key force in securing the grant.

Under terms of the grant, the newly funded projects must be completed by September 30, 2018. They are:

  1. A new Lincoln Road sidewalk in South Lincoln near the Ryan Estates that was never completed after road reconstruction in 2010.
  2. Informational kiosks at Lincoln Station, the commuter lot, and trailhead that will provide information on local events and the locations of amenities such as rest rooms, parking, food, water and the trail network, as well as nearby attractions including Drumlin Farm, the Gropius House, the Codman Estate, and Codman Community Farms. Bike racks at Lincoln Station, the commuter lot, and trailhead.
  3. Bike racks at Lincoln Station, the commuter lot, and the trailhead.
  4. A bike pump and repair system at Lincoln Station.
  5. Repairs to existing roadside paths and/or sidewalks due to tree root damage, etc., in sections of Routes 117 and 126, Trapelo Road, Lincoln Road, and Blackburnian Road.
  6. Wayfinding signs along Weston, Concord, South Great, Lincoln, Sandy Pond, Baker, Trapelo, and Bedford Roads to link Lincoln Station to other areas of interest for transit users, bicyclists, and walkers. Town officials have worked closely with Minute Man National Historical Park, the Lincoln Conservation Commission, the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, and other stakeholders in developing a wayfinding system. The kiosks and signs are part of the town’s revitalization goals in trying to “make Lincoln Station/South Lincoln a vibrant town center and hub of the community, connecting to other local amenities in town and the MetroWest region,” according to the approved project application.
  7. Signs, roadway markings, crosswalks and gateway treatments to improve pedestrian, transit and bicycle access and safety in and around Lincoln Station.
  8. Improvements to the intersection of Route 117 and Lincoln Road including crosswalks, a pedestrian “refuge island” similar to those at the Route 117 railroad crossing, traffic calming measures, pavement markings, and signage. “While a project to address overall intersection layout and geometrics would be a major undertaking and require a significant planning and engineering effort, the town proposes to focus on steps that will improve conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as perform a traffic calming function,” the application noted.
  9. A new off-road path from Baker Bridge Road to Baker Farm Road to connect to the existing trail network.
  10. The first phase of construction of a new path from Lee’s Bridge to the canoe landing parking lot on Route 117.

Estimated costs for individual projects range from $1,600 for the bike racks to $115,000 for the paved roadside repairs (project #5).

The 10 projects are part of a wish list totaling 28 projects that the town hopes to get funded over a five-year period. The town will apply for another $400,000 in funding in May 2018. Possible future projects include:

  • Installation of shelters on both sides of the MBTA tracks at Lincoln Station.
  • New paths, improve existing paths and upgrade roadway shoulders to improve connectivity and safety for pedestrians and bicyclists on Concord, South Great, Lincoln, Bedford, Old Bedford and Old County Roads.
  • Intersection improvements, crosswalks, pavement markings and signage at three intersections: Tower Road/Route 117, Five Corners, and Routes 117 and 126.
  • “Park and ride” lot improvements, pay kiosk and lighting, and bicycle parking fixtures at Lincoln Station..
  • Improvements for those turning left from Bedford Road onot Route 2A (either marking the road or widening it).
  • A new paved roadside path along 117 to fill a missing link from Tower Road to the Weston town line.
  • Upgraded roadway shoulders, pavement markings and signage along heavily traveled roadways including Lincoln, Bedford, South Great, Concord, Trapelo, Baker Bridge, Sandy Pond, and Weston Roads.
  • Path improvements from Lincoln Station to the Lincoln School.

More information is available on the town’s Complete Streets web page.

Letter to the editor: protest military budget vote

letter

To the editor:

Eight U.S. Senators voted against the massive $700 billion bloated military budget that even exceeded what President Trump actually asked for by some $40 billion (which is enough to fund free college education for everyone who wants it in this country for the next ten years).

Our Senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, were not among the eight who voted against this unaudited, excessive military budget that exceeds the combined military budgets of most of the civilized world.

I called Markey’s and Warren’s offices to share my outrage at their vote. The youngsters who answer the phones do not know why the senators vote as they do. I await their comments on why they voted for it.

We are now facing a possible nuclear war as well as lethal global climate change, all of which is being almost completely ignored by people in DC. We need our “leaders” to show some courage and take a stand against this excess.

If you are as outraged as I am at their vote, please call and tell them. The youngsters who answered the phone did mention that the offices were receiving many calls about the vote. Go to Senator Warren’s and Senator Markey’s  websites and click on “contact” for their telephone numbers.

Sincerely,

Jean Palmer
247 Tower Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.