news

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  Lincoln firefighters free a deer trapped in the mud at Farrar Pond (click image to enlarge).

  After the October 7 story headline “Lincoln firefighters rescue deer trapped in mud” was published, the Lincoln Squirrel received a reply to our email asking about the fate of the deer. Danielle Burney, Deputy Communications Director in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, reported that “Massachusetts Environmental Police officers observed the buck as it swam across a small cove at Farrar’s Pond, then made its way onto the opposite shoreline and disappeared into tall grass.” Apparently the animal had not completely lost its taste for water. The original story has been updated.

• More on the October 7 “News acorns” item about The Food Project needing volunteer help: Volunteers will be engaging in light farm chores, mostly harvesting at this time of year, of many different crops. They may also join farmer Asher Lyon in washing and packing the harvest. Wear sturdy shoes and best to dress in layers. Best times are weekdays, from 8 a.m.–noon and 1–4:30 p.m. The farm prefers a two-hour minimum per session. Feel free to come with a friend or neighbor. Lyon will guide volunteers in getting volunteers up to speed. For more questions or to set a time, email him at alyon@thefoodproject.org.

The item about the next LOMA (Lincoln Open-Mic Acoustic) event in the October 1 edition of “News acorns” listed the wrong location. It will be in Bemis Hall, not the library.

Work to upgrade the Lincoln Road crosswalk at the Old Town Hall will begin next month. It’s the first item on a five-year master plan of roadway projects that was approved earlier this month.

The upgraded crosswalk, which will include a raised table and better signage, “should help slow traffic and create safer crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, especially for students and families who use the crossing to connect to the school campus,” Chris Bibbo, Superintendent of the Department of Public Works, said in a statement. Construction is expected to take a few weeks.

In reaction to the plan listing 12 projects over a five-year period, some residents on LincolnTalk were dismayed that the plan did not include an extension of the roadside path on Trapelo Road down to Old County Road, although the idea was included in the much more comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee’s master plan approved earlier this year. The more recent five-year plan arose from a collaboration among the BPAC, the DPW, and the Roadside and Traffic Committee.

“There have been multiple efforts over the years to extend the Trapelo roadside path to Old County Road,” BPAC member Bob Wolf noted on LincolnTalk. “Any extension, however, would cross land owned by Cambridge as reservoir buffer and require their agreement and easement, things they’ve been unwilling to grant. The five-year plan is a statement of what the town believes we are able to address, and the roadside path extension is not possible at this time. The plan will be reviewed and extended annually, however. We can hope circumstances change and the extension can be added in the future.”

“We anticipate that the plan will evolve as priorities change and funding opportunities emerge,” BPAC Chair Ginger Reiner said. The best time to provide input is in the fall, but the group, usually meets the third Thursday of the month at 8 a.m. at Town Hall, welcomes questions and comments at any time.

In the September 18 article headlined “Help out with Lincoln cemetery restoration work,” the locations of two of the work days were misstated. They are:

• September 28 — Meeting House Burial Ground behind Bemis Hall
• October 5 — Arborvitae Cemetery, 16 Trapelo Rd. 
• October 12 — Precinct Burial Ground within the Lincoln Cemetery on Lexington Road

The original article has been corrected.

 

In the September 16 article headlined “My Turn: Ansara urges Lincoln Dems to get out the vote,” an incorrect link was embedded for Force Multiplier. The correct link is www.forcemultiplierus.org.

The September 11 article headlined “Board OKs five-year roadway project plan” misstated one of the roadway projects under consideration. The third item on the list was incorrectly listed as a crosswalk over North Great Road at Bedford Road; in fact, the crosswalk in question is an upgrade of the existing one over Route 2 at Bedford Road. The original article has been updated.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on September 13 with corrected information about the third item on the project list (Route 2/Bedford Road).

The Select Board this week approved a five-year plan for roadway projects in town that will include new or improved crosswalks as well as a repaved and redesigned Ballfield Road entrance. Members also approved a separate traffic and parking plan for Old Concord Road.

Last May, the Selects approved the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee’s master plan, which made a wide range of recommendations for safety improvements on roads and roadside paths. Since then, the BPAC joined forces with the Roadway and Traffic Committee to draw up the five-year transportation project plan starting with fiscal 2026 beginning on July 1, 2025. Click here to see the list with details on the projects, costs, timeline, etc.

The first two items on the list to be tackled actually weren’t on the BPAC master plan: repaving several roads in town, and creating a raised crosswalk on Lincoln Road at the Old Town Hall Exchange. A contract is expected to be awarded soon for that work, which includes repaving Tower Road between Lincoln Road and Beaver Pond Road, as well as Peirce Hill Road, Round Hill Road, and Hawthorne Circle.

Next on the wish list is an upgraded crosswalk on Route 2 at Bedford Road, which the town is hoping will be funded by MassDOT’s Mass. Highway Division).

Another high priority is repaving Ballfield Road and redesigning its intersection with Lincoln Road. A pilot project next year will involve closing the slip road (the fork of the Y on the east side of the intersection) with barriers while a plan for improving the intersection for vehicles, pedestrians and bikes is formulated. The town would seek funding for that project in fiscal 2027 to start after the community center is completed and heavy equipment isn’t routinely using Ballfield Road.

Many of the projects on the list could be funded through Chapter 90 funds from the state (Lincoln currently received about $250,000 annually from this source). Other potential funding sources from the state are the Complete Streets program and the Safe Routes to School infrastructure grant program, but the town will still have to pay for some work that isn’t eligible or isn’t awarded state funding.

Farther down on the list are two expensive and complicated goals: building or extending roadside paths on Weston Road and on Route 117 near the Mt. Misery parking lot. Both would require easements or property takings and thus may not even be viable. “We’ll continue to review them each year to see if the appetite for [those projects] is changing,” Town Administrator Tim Higgins said.

Old Concord Road

The signage improvement plan presented by Conservation Director Michele Grzenda aims to address parking issues on Old Concord Road for drivers seeking trail access, as well as service vehicles who are sometimes confused by the house numbering and dead ends. The approved plan calls for installing more consistent no-parking signs, a turnaround spot, and clearer indicators of which homes can be found by turning onto the private road opposite 33 Old Concord Rd.