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

Property sales in June 2021

54 Baker Bridge Rd. — Carroll School to David Mauch for $1,721,000 (June 30)

10 Silver Birch Lane — Benjamin Whittaker to Ryan and Elizabeth Bouldin for $1,400,000 (June 21)

0 Twin Pond Lane (parcel 118-10-0) — Jeffrey C. Birchby Trust to Susan Allen and Michelle Barnes for $625,000 (June 18)

0 Twin Pond Lane (parcel 118-13-0) — Jena Salon-Birchby to Susan Allen and Michelle Barnes for $175,000 (June 18)

11 Huckleberry Hill — Shih Ying Lee to Philip Eliopoulos Trust for $997,300 (June 22)

32B Indian Camp Lane unit B — Patrick McCusker to Oleksandr Dziuba and Yulia Zozulia for $449,000 (June 15)

38 Longmeadow Rd. — John Donahue to Arvind Grover and Carolyn Crandall for $1,695,000 (June 15)

26 Old Winter St. — Aire Maija Schwann Trust to Matt and Jon Anderson-Miller for $1,000,000 (June 9)

207 Tower Rd. — Lincoln LLC to Gabriel Palaez for $1,288,000 (June 4)

2 Giles Rd. — Leslie Kaufmann to Nicole Bensen and Galen Missig for $1,450,000 (June 1)

Police log for July 13–19, 2021

July 13

Trapelo Road (2:58 p.m.) — Two-car crash, no injuries.

Lincoln Road (3:58 p.m.) — Resident called reporting a fire in their stove. Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.

Wells Road (6:43 p.m.) — Caller wanted to speak to an officer about some suspicious circumstances; they believed someone may have damaged their car. Minor scrapes were seen on the vehicle. A report was filed.

July 14

Goose Pond Road (1:22 p.m.) — Officer posted No Parking signs on Goose Pond Road as authorized by the Select Board.

Winter Street (3:56 p.m.) — Caller reported an electrical odor after a power surge. Fire Department responded and Eversource was summoned.

Sandy Pond Road (5:51 p.m.) — People fishing at the Flint’s Pond pump station were asked to move along.
July 15

Lincoln School (2:36 a.m.) — Officer found a gate left open at the construction site. Everything appeared to be secure.

July 16

Concord Road (12:32 p.m.) — Caller reported an injured deer in the roadway. Officer responded but the deer had run off into the woods.

Police Department — Caller found a dog with no tags and brought it to the station. Animal Control took the dog and reunited it with the owner.

July 16

Harvest Circle (1:08 p.m.) — Staff at The Commons reported that a vehicle was struck in the parking lot and had minor damage. An officer responded and spoke to one of the parties involved and facilitated exchange of information for insurance purposes.

Mary’s Way (8:32 p.m.) — Caller requesting a well-being check on a resident. Officers responded and spoke to the party.

July 17

Lincoln Road (12:50 p.m.) — A walk-in to the station reported he got separated from his father while riding bikes on the trails. Officers contacted the father and they were reunited.

Bypass Road (1:42 p.m.) — Caller reported his dog was missing. At the time of the call police had received no reported of a found dog.

Old County Road (5:50 p.m.) — Caller complained about ongoing construction at a neighbor’s house. Officers spoke to the homeowner who said he was done working for the day.

July 18

Cambridge Turnpike westbound (1:08 a.m.) — Samantha Wojsnis, 35, of Maynard, was stopped on Route 2 and later arrested for OUI–liquor and speeding. She was bailed to appear in Concord District Court.

Police Department (4:00 a.m.) — A caller from Florida wanted to speak to an officer about an incident that had occurred in town in the past. An officer spoke to the party & incident did not occur in Lincoln, Mass.

Mary’s Way (9:37 a.m.) — Caller requesting a well-being check on a resident. Officers responded and spoke to the party. Officers responded and checked on the party.

Huckleberry Hill (1:49 p.m.) — Caller complained about ongoing construction. Officers made the homeowner aware of the complaint; no police action taken.

Cambridge Turnpike westbound (3:25 p.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle pulled into the breakdown lane. Driver was OK and went on their way.

South Great Road (5:25 p.m.) — Caller reported a party hitch-hiking on Route 117. Police were unable to locate the person.

Wells Road (8:23 p.m.) — A man stopped an officer looking for information regarding a civil matter. Officer spoke to the party and advised him of his legal options.

July 19

South Commons (11:19 a.m.) — Management called reporting a gas leak. Fire Department responded and metered the area with negative findings. A contractor on scene shut off the gas line.

Wells Road (11:25 a.m.) — Caller requested a well-being check on a resident. Officers spoke to the party, who said he would follow up with the caller.

Clarification

The Wikipedia links in the July 21 story headlined “Lincoln’s first inhabitants arrived millennia ago” were added by the editor for explanatory purposes and were not provided by the author or the Lincoln Historical Society. The story has been updated with this note as well as a map that was inadvertently omitted. 

Lincoln’s first inhabitants arrived millennia ago

(Editor’s note: the Wikipedia links in this article were added by the editor for explanatory purposes and were not provided by the author or the Lincoln Historical Society.)

By Sara Mattes

About 1,000 years ago, the inhabitants of what would become Lincoln were the Algonkin people. The paths created for trade between tribes, in some instances, became the routes of roads in use today. But contact with Europeans in the 17th century brought diseases that killed a significant portion these original inhabitants.

Algonkin tribal territories in 17th-century New England.

A settlement that survived in the Concord area, led by Squaw Sachem and sagamore Tahattawan, was known as Musketaquid, their name for the Concord-Sudbury River. (Sachems and sagamores were paramount chiefs among the Algonkins and other Native American tribes of the northeast.) In 1635, the Great and General Court granted a six-mile square tract at Musketaquid to English settlers, to be called Concord. The following year, Squaw Sachem, Tahattawan, and others consented to the sale of this land to the English settlers.

Some of the original Massachusetts tribe remained on the land, but by the end of King Philip’s War in 1678, the few remaining original habitants had been driven from their homes or had died from disease brought by the Europeans. By the time Lincoln was formed in 1754, all of its portion of Musketaquid was owned and settled by Europeans.

None of this tells of the conditions of the relationships between the First Peoples and the Europeans in Lincoln, and especially under what terms the sale of land was made. That is a topic for another day.

    *     *     *

This article is indebted to A Rich Harvest by Lincoln’s town historian, Jack MacLean. A Rich Harvest is available at the Lincoln Public Library and for purchase from the Lincoln Historical Society. For a more in-depth study, see The First People of the Northeast by Lincoln authors Esther K. Braun and David P. Braun, also available at the Lincoln Public Library.

“Lincoln’s History” is an occasional column by members of the Lincoln Historical Society.

Monthly used-book sales end for good as revenue source moves online

Although things have opened back up as the pandemic wanes, the Friends of the Lincoln Library (FOLL) will not resume their monthly used book sales in the basement of Bemis Hall.

The FOLL funds all of the library’s programming for children and adults, museum passes and special equipment (items that are not included in Lincoln’s budget). When the book sales stopped in spring 2020, the group turned to another method of collecting and selling donated books to fund its library programs. The materials are picked up by the Bay State Book Company, which sells them online and returns a portion of the proceeds to FOLL.

Somewhat to the FOLL’s surprise, that method is now yielding almost as much income (about $600 a month) as the old-fashioned book sale did — and with a fraction of the effort. Volunteers (mostly seniors) used to put in a total of about 100 hours a month in organizing the donated books and running the monthly book sale, involving a fair amount of physical labor.

“We’re actually getting more books than we did before,” when people dropped off donations in a wooden bin in the Bemis Hall foyer, FOLL book sale manager Cathy Moritz said. “We’re very happy this has worked out.” 

Still, it’s a loss of a Lincoln tradition.”It was a fun thing for a number of people in town,” said Moritz, adding that at least one child in town came to the book sale every month. “It’s sad.”

Moritz expressed gratitude to Larry O’Connor of the Bay State Book Company, which provided the watertight metal collection bins normally costing $1,400 apiece for free. The bins are located in the Lincoln Station parking lot, Lincoln Gas & Auto on Route 117, and Tracey’s Service Station, which has resulted in donations from a new source: commuters and others on Route 2. 

People can drop books in good condition, as well as CDs and DVDs (secured with rubber bands or in grocery bags), in the bins at any time. Books that can’t be sold for various reasons are donated to prison libraries, police book drives, laundromats and other organizations — nothing goes into the waste stream.

The book sale formerly operated in the Bemis basement, which was renovated in 2016 for the Council on Aging and Human Services. The FOLL’s space is now used for medical equipment such as walkers and wheelchairs that residents can borrow, but the group is hanging onto its rolling book carts in case they need them in the future.

The FOLL also sells a few books donated by members and their associates from a cart in the library breezeway. Used books are $1 or $2 each, and buyers are asked to bring small bills (the cash box only takes cash or checks, and the librarians cannot make change).

No more overdue book fines

In an unrelated development, the library’s Board of Trustees recently voted to stop charging fines on overdue materials, with the following exceptions:

  • Items from the Library of Things collection
  • Museum passes
  • Interlibrary loans from outside the Minuteman Library Network

The trustees made the move in recognition of the American Library Association’s 2019 “Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity. In order for an item to be eligible for fine-free status, it must be checked out at the Lincoln Public Library. A bill for the full replacement cost will be automatically generated by the Minuteman Network if an item is not returned after 42 days after the due date. Once the item has been returned, all costs will be waived.

My Turn: Blind spots, fear, and the “The Emperor’s New Clothes”

By Lawrence H. Climo, M.D.

I’ve been frustrated and angry for some time now — it’s July 2021 — over the crushing and inescapable toxicity of our political discourse, and I feel certain that my helplessness in this climate isn’t mine alone.

I know much has been written about the origins of this toxicity and not enough about a way out — an operational and viable way out. I haven’t come upon any, anyway. Recently I convinced myself I’ve been overlooking something in my efforts to find a realistic path to becoming unstuck. I’d overlooked a part of me, a part I wasn’t supposed to look at, that hiding place we call our blind spot. I’d searched enough into hopes, wishes, and dreams and came up with zip. I’d looked into my experiences with healing. Again, zip. This time I decided it was time to look into that place where things couldn’t be seen.

By “blind spot” I don’t mean a place we tune out. I mean the place where stuff gets blocked out of our awareness because it’s unbearable. Their downside is that they’re not under our control. (“Denial” is its other name but denial, unfortunately, has a bad reputation even though it buys time for continuing normal functioning until we feel ready to face… whatever.) Anyway, I’d come to think of blind spots as the place for temporary healing, as a sort of pre-programed field dressing or healing place instinctively applied when we’re blindsided with the unbearable. I should add that those dressings have a half-life. Over time they can seep into our awareness, in disguise of course. The disguise wasn’t a problem for me. I knew immediately the strategy to detect it.

I lay in wait and then grabbed hold of the first subtle and sneaky nervous symptom that entered my awareness. (I knew it would take that form. It had happened before.) Now relaxed and confident, I let myself play with that symptom. It wasn’t difficult to trace its roots.

Its roots weren’t any physical or mental traumatic event. They were nothing more than a vague sensation of discomfort that I’d routinely tuned out and that, over time, evolved into anxiety whereupon it became permanently blocked out. That anxiety had become FEAR.

Fears, of course, have no words. We give them words or names to enable us to grab and get a hold of that feeling and feel in control. This realization reminded me how difficult and misleading those sanity-saving words can be, and how difficult it can be to use them properly, let alone wisely. (Here, my story becomes more dicey.) The ways to articulate that “feeling” involves blending facts with fantasy. The upside is that our blend brings peace of mind. The downside: it brings peace of mind to us but, inasmuch as it’s including non-facts, the other guy becomes even more frightened.

The solution to my problem became clear. I’ll try to spell it out by beginning with this familiar toxic promoter. Republican leaders in Congress make the most of what they have, and do what it takes to pursue a political agenda promoting a diminished government presence. This is what politics is about and Democrats in Congress and their supporters know this. They know Republican leaders in Congress are not corrupt, in denial, or deranged, but simply playing the cards they’ve been dealt. That’s what parties do. But, to listen to Democrats and their supporters, you’d think they were unaware of any value to what Republicans in Congress seek.

The flip side, it seems, is equally true. Republicans in Congress and their supporters know that Democratic leaders in Congress are prioritizing their political agenda which features a more hands-on government. But, to listen to Republicans in Congress and their supporters, you’d think Republicans were unaware of any value for America to what Democrats seek.

It’s as if supporters of both parties are simultaneously ignoring the fact that our progress as a democratic nation rests on compromise, that fine-tuning process that creates a balance between differing visions of equal value. Unfortunately, pursuing and maintaining that balance has for some time now been unnecessarily and dramatically replaced by our persistent win-lose strategy.

From this perspective, I see no fault lying with the politicians, parties, supporters, the press, voters, or even foreign meddlers or imagined conspirators. The fault, as I’ve come to see it, lies with our singular common denominator, our national common denominator, our familiar and addictive American metaphor. I refer to our hierarchy-heavy metaphor that declares: we are Number One. We are the Greatest Country Ever. Think of it. This is the metaphor whose dramatic fight-to-win directive and right-wrong/winner-loser orientation, not to mention its stand-your-ground and stay-the-course endorsements, are as addictive as they are inspiring. That is the box we’re in. It’s a place of reassurance and empowerment, to be sure, and still a box, but the catch is that we don’t even know we’re in it, let alone stuck there. That, I believe, is because it feels too much like a noble mountaintop, a heroic place where we’re supposed to be. But, truth be told, it’s also the place we’re afraid to leave. Our toxic discourse is rooted in that fear.

As a result, instead of striving to recover a balance, we persist in losing our balance and tilting too far to one side. And, while we maintain the strength to resist being pushed all the way down, we’ve lost the strength to stand up straight.

I’m beginning to consider now that the good news is that we might be just one step from recovery. In the story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson, it took only one onlooker, a small child, a voice of a future generation, to make that happen. He simply said the obvious — “the emperor is wearing no clothes” — and instantly, everyone was able to not only see this but to say so. And they did.

What if we, the majority of Americans, are like the crowd at that parade — reluctant to see inside our blind spots, but ready to? Unable to admit we’re no longer Number One, but ready to. Unwilling to confess we’re not the greatest country ever, but ready to. Unwilling to say we’ve done bad things but ready to? What if all that’s needed is for that majority of us to own up to all this, and what’s keeping us from doing that is fear of finding ourselves alone? What if that’s the big delay, the reason the toxicity persists — that we’re waiting for the other fellow to say it first? Let “Mikey” at the breakfast table, that innocent child, be the one to go viral. I’m thinking that’s what it will take.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Police log for June 29–July 12, 2021

June 29

Lincoln School (7:26 a.m.) — Construction supervisor called regarding a parking issue. An officer assisted to resolve the problem.

Goose Pond Road (11:39 a.m.) — Caller complained about a car parked on the roadway. The car was moved by the owner.

Wells Road (3:30 p.m.) — A resident came to the station looking for assistance in a dispute with a neighbor.

North Great Road (6:31 a.m.) — Water main break. Water Department notified;
officers assisted with traffic.

June 30

Cambridge Turnpike westbound (2:04 p.m.) — State Police reported a crash on Route 2 and requested an ambulance. Concord Fire Department was on scene to handle; State Police handled crash.

Hanscom Drive (2:09 p.m.) — Two-car crash; injured party transported to the Lahey Clinic and vehicles towed.

Old Lexington Road (2:19 p.m.) — Caller reported that an unknown animal was inside the chimney. Animal Control was contacted to assist the party.

Greenridge Lane (8:40 p.m.) — Caller reported wires were causing a tree limb to ignite. Eversource was contacted to handle.

July 1

Tracey’s Corner (8:27 a.m.) — Homeowner requested assistance from an officer to stand by to keep the peace while a tenant moved out. Officers spoke to both parties and came to a resolution.

Weston Road (10:35 a.m.) — A resident came to the station looking for assistance with a civil matter. An officer spoke to the resident and provided assistance and legal options for the civil process.

July 2

Reports of trees/branches down on Lincoln Road, Tower Road, Bedford Road.

Willis Road, Sudbury (3:39 a.m.) — Fire Department responded with the ladder truck to a house fire.

July 3

Nothing of note.

July 4

Huckleberry Hill (1:44 p.m.) — Caller reported seeing an unknown party at the front door on camera. Officers went to the residence; all was fine and the party was gone on arrival.

Bedford Road (8:07 p.m.) — Officer spoke to with individuals who set off fireworks.

Weston Road (10:17 p.m.) — Caller reporting hearing noises coming from the basement. Officers checked the residence and all was fine.

July 5

Merrimac Police Department (1:39 p.m.) — Det. Ian Spencer (who is a forensic artist) assisted Merrimac police with an investigation by drawing a sketch of a suspect in a home invasion in that town on July 3.

July 6

Reports of trees/branches down on Brooks Road, North Great Road, Bedford Road.

Wayland Police Department (1:42 p.m.) — Det. Spencer assisted Merrimac police with an investigation.

Bay Shore Drive, Miami, FL (2:00 p.m.) — Caller asked to speak to an officer regarding a civil matter. Officer spoke to the party and advised them contact local authorities where the incident occurred.

Indian Camp Lane (3:04 p.m.) — Caller requested a well-being check on a resident. Officers checked and both parties are fine.

Twin Pond Lane (4:05 p.m.) — Caller reported a suspicious package at a neighbor’s house. Officer responded and found that it was not suspicious but was becoming an eyesore. No action taken.

Sandy Pond Road (4:46 p.m.) — Resident called because a neighbor’s generator was running and no one is home. The owner of the residence stated that the generator was doing a scheduled test of the system.

Trapelo Road (4:53 p.m.) — Caller reported that a male party was walking around the Cambridge Water Department building. Officer checked but he was gone on arrival.

Lexington Road (5:18 p.m.) — Officer attempted to make contact to follow up on a report of harassment by a neighbor. No answer at the residence. An attorney contacted the department and requested all communication go through him.

Hanscom Drive (5:32 p.m.) — Car vs. deer crash, no injuries. Vehicle was towed from the scene.

Hanscom Drive (7:11 p.m.) — Caller reported a beaver in the roadway. Officers checked the area but found nothing.

Tower Road (7:43 p.m.) — Officer dropped off paperwork for the resident.

July 7

Vandenberg Gate, Hanscom Air Force base (10:07 a.m.) — Ismaily Garcia, 33, of Lynn was arrested on a Lynn District Court warrant for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon warrant out of the Lynn District Court. She was brought to Concord District Court.

Deerhaven Road (11:44 a.m.) — Caller reported that he lost his phone in Boston and it pinged from a residence in town on July 5. Officer went to the residence and spoke to a party, who reported having a gathering at which a number of people he didn’t know were present. The party knew nothing about the missing phone. The caller was updated.

Address unknown (3:40 p.m.) — Caller reported receiving a package at his residence which wasn’t addressed to him and was afraid it was a scam. Officer spoke to the party; it was found to be a mistake by the delivery driver.

Codman Road (3:56 p.m.) — Caller requested a well-being check on the resident. Officer spoke to the resident and everything was fine.

Tower Road (8:07 p.m.) — Caller requested assistance with shutting off their gas fireplace. Fire Department responded to assist.

Adams Road, Hanscom Air Force Base (10:58 a.m.) — Caller reported a possible restraining order violation. Officer spoke to the party; no violation occurred.

July 8

Tower Road (7:48 am.) — Resident reported losing an item somewhere on the property and asked an officer to document the report.

Tower Road (7:43 p.m.) — Officer dropped off paperwork for a resident.

Old Concord Road (12:48 p.m.) — Caller reported a raccoon on the property which appeared to be sick. Officer responded but the raccoon was gone on arrival.

South Great Road (11:19 p.m.) — One-car crash off the road near Bowles Terrace. No injuries; vehicle towed from the scene.

July 9

Reports of trees/branches down on Old Concord Road, Lincoln Road, Sandy Pond Road.

Old Cambridge Turnpike (4:49 a.m.) — Caller reported damage to her motor vehicle, possibly from a co-worker. Report taken.

Lincoln Road (7:27 a.m.) — Caller reported that a port-a-potty truck was dumping fluids behind Wells Road. Officer checked the area; the vehicle was gone and there was no sign of hazardous waste being dumped.

Tower Road (7:43 p.m.) — Officer dropped off paperwork for a resident.

July 10

South Great Road (10:32 a.m.) — Bicyclist ran a red light; verbal warning given.

July 11

Lincoln Road (2:12 p.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle pulled to the side of the roadway. Driver was OK and on his way.

Lincoln Road (6:16 p.m.) — A party requested assistance. Officer assisted the party and brought him to the Lexington town line on North Great Road.

Lewis Street (12:44 p.m.) — Caller complained about contractors using leaf blowers. Officer spoke to the crew, who were cooperative.

Lewis Street (1:00 p.m.) — Caller reported to complain about a seal-coating crew working. Officer spoke to the crew, who were done for the day.

July 12

Weston Road (8:55 a.m.) — Officer met with a work crew working in the roadway near the center without a police detail. They were advised to move off the roadway

Mary’s Way (11:11 a.m.) — Caller requested a well-being check on a party. Officer attempted to make contact initially and later spoke to the party; everything was fine.

Lincoln Road (6:10 p.m.) — One-car crash vs. tree. No injuries; vehicle towed from the scene.

Sandy Pond Road (8:16 p.m.) — Caller reported their vehicle was struck by a black SUV that left the area without stopping. Officers were unable to locate the vehicle but notified area towns and took a report.

Sandy Pond Road (8:46 p.m.) — Officer checking on a party at the Water Department pump house. everything was fine and they went on their way.

Walden Pond boat ramp (11:05 p.m.) — Officer checked on three individuals who parked their car on the side of the road and were walking towards Walden Pond. Officer advised them that the park was closed and they left the area.

Obituaries

Cecilia Ives

Cecilia Ives, 94

“Celie” was a passionate advocate for voting rights, civil justice, and the environment. Full obituary and guest book.

Samuel Rubinovitz

Samuel Rubinovitz, 91

Rubinovitz was a former vice president of defense contractor EG&G. A memorial observance will continue in the Community Room of The Commons in Lincoln on Thursday, July 15 from 2–4 p.m. and 7–9 p.m. Full obituary and guest book.

News acorns

Family movie in the CCF barn

Codman Community Farms will show “Chicken Run,” its first “Farm Flick” in the barn, on Thursday, July 15 at 7 p.m. Children under 5 are free; all others are $10 (popcorn and lemonade included). Buy tickets on the CCF website or at the Farm Store (on the check-out terminal under EVENTS on the top banner). 

Five from Lincoln graduate from Minuteman

The following Lincoln residents recently graduated from Minuteman Vocational Technical High School in Lincoln:

  • Marco Bangall (plumbing). Bangall is working as a plumber apprentice with Zepco Plumbing and Heating of Waltham.
  • William Harris (advanced manufacturing).Harris received the President’s Education Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement and will attend New England Institute of Technology to study criminal justice.
  • Aidan Nunez O’Doherty (advanced manufacturing). Nunez O’Doherty received three scholarships from Minuteman and will attend UMass–Lowell to study mechanical engineering
  • Molly P. Raghavan (carpentry). Raghavan received the Digital Federal Credit Union Award and the Jed Dowd Memorial Award.
  • Vivianvi Romero (early education and teaching). Romero will attend Keiser University to study criminal justice.

Lincoln college student interning at ORI

Adibah Shaikh

Adibah Shaikh, a Lincoln resident and biology major at UMass–Lowell, is interning this summer for Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit providing expertise, services, resources, and information to support environmental organizations. She is serving as a team captain for the Natural Lawn Care for Healthy Soils Challenge, which aims to urge people to restore the ecological functioning of grass lawns by not spreading fertilizer or harsh chemicals. She will also disseminate information advocating for the passage of the Ocean Based Climate Solutions Act as well as the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.

“Climate change and the environment in general have always been important to me,” said Shaikh in a statement. “The moment that really kicked off my environmental work was when I wrote a paper on plastic for my college writing course. I learned how harmful plastics are from the production to the aftermath of the disposal. As I became more informed, I wanted to make my household more involved. We already recycle and compost but I wanted to take it a step further and try to slowly aim for zero waste. I’m excited to intern for Ocean River Institute and work to restore the health of our environment.”

Plans moving ahead for bike and pedestrian-friendly improvements

Plans for safety improvements to Farrar Road and Route 2A are advancing, and a third project to benefit pedestrians in South Lincoln is out to bid.

The Farrar Road project will create “advisory shoulders” on Farrar Road, which involves painting dashed lines to indicate shoulders. Vehicles can cross the lines to avoid traffic coming from the opposite direction but must yield to oncoming traffic if there are “vulnerable users” (bicyclists, pedestrians, or any other non-vehicle) ahead or alongside.

An example of a sign about advisory shoulders.

Farrar Road was chosen as a pilot by the  Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPEC) in service of its broader goal to make Lincoln’s roads safer for all. If the measure turns out to be successful, other “minor connectors” in town might get the same treatment. There are 17 miles of  minor connectors that offer routes to schools and access to conservation trails but are not major roads.

The lines will advise all road users of the legal rights of way and safe passing distance. “It doesn’t change the way folks should use the road — it’s not like a stop sign or speed limit. It just advises about what’s safe,” BPEC member Bob Wolf told the Select Board at its June 21 meeting. The committee has been working with police, the Roadway and Traffic Committee, the DPW, the Planning Board, and representatives of candidate neighborhoods. Wolf and fellow BPEC member Ginger Reiner presented the idea to residents at one of last November’s State of the Town meetings.

The town has submitted an “application to experiment” to the Federal Highway Administration for the advisory shoulders, which are a relatively recent invention in this country. If all goes well, the painting could take place as soon as September, Wolf said.

Route 2A improvements

Another project in the planning stages is repaving and adding safety features to Route 2A. The current plans (which are at the 75% complete stage) call for traffic islands at intersections, and reconfiguring the Route 2A/Lexington Rd, intersection to make it safe for those approaching on Brooks Road.

MassDOT plans to move the Route 2A/Lexington Rad intersection slightly to the west. The green area is the new roadway.

Town officials recently offered feedback on the latest round of plans by MassDOT and expects to hear their response in several weeks. Among their requests:

  • Add pedestrian-activated flashing lights at all intersections
  • Add a crosswalk at Brooks Road
  • Add pedestrian islands at certain intersections
  • Make the road shoulders 4 feet wide where practicable

Select Board member Jonathan Dwyer said the town should hear the next response from MassDOT in four to six weeks. The agency has been “accommodating and respectful” to previous requests, he added.

Path in South Lincoln field

A third pedestrian-friendly project that’s currently out to bid is a pathway alongside Lincoln Road from the railroad tracks to the intersection with Codman Road. The paved path would be on the grass north of the stone wall and row of flowering trees and would skirt the community gardens.

The proposed path alongside Lincoln Road in green. The Doherty’s gas station property is in gray.

The project will be funded by a previously awarded grant from a state program to encourage safe travel and connectivity to mass transit for pedestrians and bicycles. The original deadline for completing the work was June 30, 2021, but the town was unable to award the contract through the initial bidding process, so the new deadline for bids is July 30. MassDOT gave the town an extension until November 30 to complete the work, said Director of Planning and Land Use Paula Vaughn-MacKenzie.

Some residents have expressed concern that the path would cut through the community gardens or is intended to promote access to the Codman Community Farm store. But CCF Board President Nancy Fleming wrote in LincolnTalk in May that the path has nothing to do with the store. She also explained and defended driveway work and other changes at the farm.

“For the first time in decades, we are financially stable, our animals are extremely well cared for, and we are plowing resources back into the aging infrastructure of the farm in ways that were impossible just five years ago,” she wrote.