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Chen-Yuan Wang

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Mark Abbott

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Chen-Yuan Wang

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Kenneth Dumas

Kim DeLauri

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April 2022

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Abstract

The Grove Street Corridor Study in Braintree is one in a series of studies supported by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization that address safety, mobility, and access on the Boston region’s roadways. This report identifies specific transportation issues and concerns in the Grove Street Corridor in Braintree, Massachusetts; presents an in-depth analysis of multiple transportation-related factors, such as accommodations for people who walk and bike and safe access to adjacent businesses; proposes short- and long-term improvements to address the problems; and provides a vision for the corridor’s long-term development.

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Executive Summary

Each year, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) conducts outreach to local agencies, municipalities, the public, and other stakeholders during the development of the Unified Planning Work Program, a program of studies and research projects that provide transportation planning and technical assistance to municipalities and agencies in the Boston region. The purpose of this outreach is to gather information about specific transportation problems in the region so that studies may be conducted to analyze these issues, and projects may be developed to address these issues to improve the operation of the transportation system as a whole.

The MPO’s series of Subregional Priority Roadways studies grew out of this information-gathering process. These studies identify safety, mobility, access, and other transportation-related concerns on specific roadways identified as requiring improvements by subregional planning groups. The studies evaluate potential multimodal solutions to the problems and then make recommendations for agencies and municipalities to implement. Each year, the Boston Region MPO chooses an arterial or collector roadway for staff to analyze, which results in recommendations for short- and long-term improvements for that roadway area.

Selecting a study area in the Boston region is a thorough and exacting process, based on many factors. In any large metropolitan region, there are many roadways that need improvement, so it can be a challenge to single out just one. However, because the MPO’s Subregional Priority Roadways program is ongoing, MPO staff can address each problem area methodically, according to priority and regional needs.

This report focuses on the Grove Street corridor in Braintree, Massachusetts. It contains a review of existing conditions, various safety and operations analyses, and proposed short- and long-term improvements to address the problems in the study corridor.

The study corridor is approximately two miles long, comprising Plain Street, Grove Street, and Columbian Street in Braintree from Hancock Street to the Weymouth town line. Key issues and concerns identified for the corridor include the following:

• High corridor crash rate
• High vehicle travel speeds
• Recurrent traffic congestions
• Insufficient accommodation for people who walk
• Lack of accommodation for people who bike
• Lack of safe and convenient access to adjacent developments
• Safety concerns for all users, especially for those who walk and bike

The recommended short-term improvements would enhance safety for all users and improve traffic operations in the study area. With a high benefit-to-cost ratio, these short-term improvements should be considered and implemented as soon as resources are available. Among the improvements proposed at various locations in the corridor, two projects were recommended for consideration in the short term:

• Combine the two closely located crosswalks on Grove Street in the vicinity of Heritage United Methodist Church and install Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons and a series of pedestrian crossing warning signs and pavement markings to enhance the conspicuity of crossing activities and improve safety and access for people who walk.
• Review and retime the traffic signals at the intersections of Grove Street at Liberty Street and at Columbian Street, including increasing the pedestrian signal time for people to cross the intersection at Liberty Street.

Significantly improving the safety, mobility, and access for all users of the roadway would require a series of long-term improvements. The following major improvements are proposed for the corridor.

• Reduce travel lane width to 11.5 feet wide.
• Install street- or sidewalk-level separated bike lanes with traffic buffers on both sides of the roadway.
• Install six-foot sidewalks wherever absent and improve the existing sidewalks and expand them to six feet wide wherever applicable.
• Install five-foot grass buffers between the proposed bike lanes and sidewalks to accommodate the existing utility poles.
• Reduce driveway widths and tuning radii wherever applicable.
• Change speed limit from 40 to 35 miles per hour (mph) in the corridor, except for the curved and busy section between John Mahar Highway and Grove Circle (30 mph posted speed limit), after the implementation of the above improvements.
• Reconstruct the intersections of Grove Street at Liberty Street and at Columbian Street, with upgraded traffic signal system.

The proposed long-term improvements have several expected benefits:

• Improve accommodations and safety for people who walk, bike, and use a mobility device.
• Improve mobility and safety for people to access adjacent businesses and residences.
• Sustain appropriate travel speeds and increase safety for all users in the corridor.
• Maintain efficient traffic operations in the corridor.
• Support and enhance economic activities.
• Enhance livability for neighborhoods and the subregion.

Implementing the recommended long-term improvements in this extensive corridor would require sufficient resources. Four implementation stages can be considered for the entire corridor, as follows:

• Grove Street between Hannah Niles Way and Liberty Street, including the intersection at Liberty Street
• Grove Street between Plain Street and Hannah Niles Way, including the intersection at Plain Street
• Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street
• Columbian Street south of Grove Street, including the intersection at Grove Street

This report provides a detailed review and recommendations for improvements that address the transportation issues in the Grove Street corridor in Braintree. By addressing these problems systematically through the Subregional Priority Roadways program, the resulting improvements will help to enhance quality of life, support economic development, and improve air quality throughout the MPO region.

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Chapter 1—Introduction

1.1      Study Background

During development of the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) and the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) gathers feedback from the public, municipalities, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s subregional groups, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to identify transportation problems in the region. These problems generally involve accommodations for people who walk and bike, freight movement, traffic bottlenecks, safety of roadway users, and safe or convenient access for abutters along roadway corridors—problems that can adversely affect the region’s quality of life, economic development, and air quality.

Each year, the MPO conducts a study, Addressing Safety, Mobility, and Access on Subregional Priority Roadways, to identify roadway segments in the Boston region that are of concern to stakeholders, but that have not been cited in the regional needs assessment conducted for the LRTP.1 The Subregional Priority Roadways studies focus on arterial or collector roadways and result in recommendations for short- and long-term improvements. Funding for the Grove Street Corridor Study in Braintree was documented in the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2021 UPWP, and a work program outlining the study was endorsed by the MPO board on July 16, 2020.

1.2      Study Objectives

The Grove Street Corridor Study in Braintree focused on safety, mobility and access, and specific concerns related to bicycle and pedestrian transportation, multiuse trail feasibility, and other subjects raised by stakeholders. The objectives of the study were to

• identify safety, mobility, access, and other transportation-related problems in the study corridor; and
• develop and evaluate potential multimodal solutions to the problems, including those addressing the pedestrian, bicycle, truck, and transit modes.

1.3      Selection Procedure

The MPO selected the Grove Street corridor in Braintree by assessing 21 roadway corridors in the Boston region that were identified as potential candidates for study by various sources, including (1) suggestions heard during outreach for the FFY 2021 UPWP; (2) concerns documented in meeting records from the UPWP outreach process since 2012; and (3) data from the MPO’s Congestion Management Process. MPO staff assembled detailed data about these roadways and evaluated them according to the following selection criteria:

• Safety Conditions: The roadway has a high crash rate for its functional class, or there have been a significant number of collisions (two or more per mile) involving people who walk or bike.
• Multimodal Significance: The roadway supports transit, bicycle, or walking activity, or accommodates large numbers of heavy vehicles (trucks and buses).
• Subregional Priority: The roadway carries a significant proportion of subregional vehicle, bicycle, or pedestrian traffic and is essential for the subregion’s economic, cultural, or recreational development.
• Implementation Potential: Roadway improvements are proposed or endorsed by the agency or agencies that administer the roadway and other stakeholders who voiced strong support for the improvements.
• Regional Equity: The roadway is situated in a subregion that has not been selected for the Subregional Priority Roadways study in the past two years.2

The selected roadways belonged to the “Old Route 128” corridor, which runs parallel to Interstate 93 and Route 3 and carries regional and local traffic. The corridor contains various land uses, including a large-scale shopping plaza (Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center) and several commercial developments, senior living residential developments, multiunit condos and apartments, and single-family residences. In addition, there are ongoing and planned developments in the corridor.

MassDOT Highway Division District 6 recommended this roadway for study to explore Complete Streets needs and safety improvements for all users of the roadway, especially for those who walk. The Town of Braintree noted that residents have expressed their concerns about this corridor because of the high crash rate and crashes caused by high vehicle travel speeds.

1.4      Study Area and Data Collection

The study corridor is about two miles long, comprising Plain Street, Grove Street, and Columbian Street in Braintree from Hancock Street to the Weymouth town line. It is a two-lane roadway classified as an Urban Minor Arterial and is under the jurisdiction of MassDOT District 6. The study area covers the corridor and its adjacent areas and connected roadways. Major cross streets in the corridor include John Mahar Highway, Plain Street, and Liberty Street. Figure 1 shows the study corridor, adjacent roadways, and major developments in the study area.

At the request of MPO staff, MassDOT collected daily traffic volumes and intersection turning movement counts (including pedestrian and bicycle movements and the percentage of heavy vehicles) for this study from April 7 to April 13, 2020, a period during the COVID-19 pandemic when traffic was still less intensive than the usual conditions. Staff reviewed historical counts and MassDOT COVID-19 traffic monitoring reports and made a series of adjustments to the collected data, so that the data would reflect the normal traffic conditions that are used in a series of essential analyses in this study.

MPO staff also collected a series of data from the Town of Braintree, including land use and zoning information, traffic studies from recent proposed developments and redevelopments in the corridor, and the police crash reports for a five-year period from 2015 to 2019.

MPO staff developed a corridor user survey to gather feedback from the public on perceived and actual problems with the corridor and to solicit improvement ideas. The survey yielded helpful information in identifying the issues and concerns and in developing improvement strategies for the corridor.

1.5      Study Advisory Committee Meetings

During the study, MPO staff worked closely with an advisory committee comprised of representatives from the Town of Braintree, MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning, and MassDOT Highway Division District 6. (See Appendix A for a complete list of the study advisory members.)

Two advisory committee meetings were held to guide and support the study. In the first meeting (February 11, 2021), MPO staff introduced the study, received input about the corridor’s issues and concerns, and coordinated data collection needs. In the second meeting (December 10, 2021), staff presented the analyses and findings and discussed the proposed short- and long-term improvement alternatives with the advisory committee members. After the meetings, staff received comments and revised the proposed improvements accordingly.

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Chapter 2—Existing Conditions and Issues

2.1      Corridor Overview

The study corridor is about two miles long, comprising Plain Street, Grove Street, and Columbian Street in Braintree from Hancock Street to the Weymouth town line (Figure 1). It is a two-lane roadway, one lane in each direction, which carries approximately 14,000 to 19,000 vehicles per weekday. The entire corridor is classified as Urban Minor Arterial and is under the jurisdiction of MassDOT Highway Division District 6.

The corridor contains three signalized intersections, three uncontrolled marked crosswalks, several unsignalized intersections and commercial driveways. The three signalized intersections are Plain Street at John Mahar Highway, Grove Street at Liberty Street, and Grove Street at Columbian Street. The three marked crosswalks are all located on Grove Street, one just south of Hannah Niles Way, one near Heritage United Methodist Church, and one just north of O’Toole Terrace.

The adjacent land uses in the corridor include residential, commercial, religious, and open lands. The majority of the adjacent areas are under residential zoning, which contains mainly single-family houses and some multiunit residential developments. In addition, there are two major commercial areas: a general business district located on Grove Street near Liberty Street and a highway business district located on Columbian Street south of Grove Street.

The corridor can be roughly distinguished into four sections based on adjacent land uses and the existing roadway layouts. The first section, Plain Street between Hancock Street and Grove Street, contains mainly residential and some commercial areas. The roadway’s adjacent areas are fully developed with single-family houses. It has two 12-foot travel lanes, with relatively wide shoulders (four- to six-feet) and sidewalks on both sides.

The second section of the corridor, Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street, contains residential areas, a senior living community (Grove Manor Estates), a church (Heritage United Methodist Church), and a major business district that houses Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center. The travel lanes in this section are wider than the previous section. It lacks sidewalks on the northbound side.

The third section, Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street, contains mostly residential areas, with some open spaces located near Columbian Street. The travel lanes in this section are wide and with shoulders of inconsistent widths. It lacks sidewalks on the southbound side.

The last section, Columbian Street between Grove Street and the Weymouth town line, contains a major business park at 60 Columbian Street and a number of businesses with their own driveways and on-site parking. No sidewalks exist on either side and shoulders are generally narrow with a width of about three feet.

There are no dedicated bike lanes in the entire corridor. Shoulders are generally narrow (about two- to three-feet wide), except in some limited and discontinuous sections. Meanwhile, most sections in the corridor have a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour (mph) and vehicles generally travel at a speed much higher than the posted speed limit.

There are no Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) or local transit services in the corridor. However, there are a few regional and subregional transit services in the areas adjacent to the corridor (see Figure 2). These include a station for two MBTA commuter rail lines, Kingston/Plymouth Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line, with stops at Braintree Station. It is a major station with a parking garage of more than 1,200 spaces that also connects the MBTA rapid transit Red Line and a number of MBTA bus routes.

Meanwhile, three MBTA bus routes, 226, 230, and 236 serve the adjacent areas. Route 226 runs between Braintree Station and Weymouth Square; Route 230 runs between Montello Station in Brockton and Quincy Center Station (via Hancock Street in Braintree); and Route 236 runs between South Shore Plaza in Braintree and Quincy Center Station.

This corridor is less than one mile from Braintree Station and is a key route for commuters from the South Shore area to access the station for Boston Downtown or other major destinations.

2.2      Corridor User Survey

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff prepared and conducted a survey to help determine the public’s opinion about the issues and problems on the study corridor, and to gather ideas for resolving them. The online survey was posted on the Boston Region MPO website and published in Metropolitan Area Planning Council newsletters and social media channels and received 155 responses between March 16 and May 4, 2021.

2.2.1   Survey Questions and Answers

The survey contained the following nine questions:

• How do you typically use the corridor?
• Please indicate the purpose of your usual trips in the corridor.
• Please indicate the destination of your usual trips in the corridor.
• While driving in the corridor, what problems do you encounter?
• While bicycling or walking along the corridor, what particular problems do you regularly encounter?
• Please indicate any problems that keep you from walking or bicycling in the corridor.
• Please indicate any improvements that you would like to see implemented in the corridor.
• Where do you live?
• Please use the space below to describe specific problem locations and improvements that you would like to see implemented in the corridor.

Multiple choice answers are allowed in Questions 1 to 7 and a single answer applies to Question 8, while Question 9 required a written response. Figure 3 shows the results from the first seven questions of the survey, with the number of respondents and the percentage of applicable answers to each question being summarized in horizontal bar charts. In addition, the number and percentage of each answer and comments in answering “other (please specify)” for Questions 1 to 8 and written comments for Question 9 are summarized in Appendix B.

Question 8 is designed to understand the geographical distribution of the respondents. The answers indicate that about 93 percent of the respondents live in Braintree and more than 60 percent of them reside within one mile of the corridor. The rest of the respondents are mostly South Shore residents: six from Weymouth, one from Hingham, one from Milton, one from Norwell, one from Scituate, and one from Randolph.

Question 9 is a free response question for the respondents to describe further viewpoints and to cover the problems and improvement ideas that the survey answers might not have included. Nearly half of the respondents left significant feedback for the question. Their comments are listed with no alterations in Appendix B.

2.2.2   Summary of Survey Results

The following list includes notable conclusions drawn from the survey.

• Almost all the respondents indicated that they usually drive in the corridor. Nearly all respondents indicated driving alone as their typical travel mode. However, a noticeable portion of respondents said that they also walk (27 percent) and/or bike (12 percent) in the corridor.

• Shopping and dining are the predominant purposes of trips made in the corridor. Social, recreational, dining, walking, and jogging trips are also prevailing in the corridor. One-third of the respondents said that they also used the corridor for commuting to work.
• Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center area is a popular trip destination for the respondents. In addition, people also frequent the areas north and south of the shopping center and beyond the corridor.
• For people who usually drive in the corridor, traffic congestion is the issue that concerns them the most, followed by difficulty turning into and out of stores, restaurants, and side streets.
• For people who usually walk and bike in the corridor, the high speed of vehicles is the issue that concerns them the most, followed by the high volume of traffic and lack of sidewalks. Almost half of the respondents also indicated that drivers’ lack of attention to people who walk and bike, lack of midblock crosswalks, and lack of bike lanes are their concerns.
• For people who are hesitant to walk or bike, the high volume of traffic and high vehicle speeds are two major reasons that deter them. In addition, lack of sidewalks, poor sidewalk conditions, drivers’ lack of attention to people who walk and bike, and lack of bicycle accommodations are their other major reasons.
• Most respondents (55 to 60 percent) indicated that they would like to see improvements in increasing safety for all users, especially accommodating people who walk, reducing traffic congestion, and adding or improving access to and from adjacent commercial developments. Nearly half of respondents indicated that improving pedestrian crossings in the corridor and accommodating biking are also desirable.

Feedback from the survey was helpful to gauge community sentiment and to solicit ideas for solutions to the existing problems. Some of the ideas were considered in developing the improvement alternatives discussed in Chapter 5.

2.3      Issues and Concerns

Based on findings from the user survey, analyses of crash data and existing traffic operations, and discussions with the study advisory members, major issues and concerns of the corridor include the following:

• High corridor crash rate
• The corridor has a crash rate close to the state average for urban minor arterials. Further crash data analyses indicate that the two business sections, Grove Street in the vicinity of Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center and Columbian Street south of Grove Street, all have a crash rate much higher than the state average.
• High vehicle travel speeds
• In general, travel lanes in the corridor are 12 feet or wider and intersections in the corridor generally have a large layout with wide-turning radii. These factors allow vehicles to travel at excessive speeds in the corridor and at intersections. In the survey, a large portion of the users referred the high vehicle travel speeds as a major concern of the corridor.
• Recurrent traffic congestion
• The three signalized intersections in the corridor are usually congested during peak traffic hours, especially the intersection of Grove Street and Liberty Street. In addition, periodic congestion frequently occurs in the Grove Street section adjacent to Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center because of blockages by vehicles waiting for traffic gaps to access the shopping center.
• Lack of safe and convenient access to and from adjacent developments
• People who drive usually have a difficult time to get in and out of the shopping center due to the lack of exclusive left-turn lanes on Grove Street and sufficient traffic gaps to enter Grove Street under busy traffic conditions. Meanwhile, major driveways in the corridor are generally wide and with large turning radii that is inconvenient and unsafe for people who walk and bike.
• Insufficient accommodation for people who walk
• Sidewalks are missing in many sections of the corridor. Meanwhile, in the corridor, crosswalks exist only at the two signalized intersections and at three uncontrolled crossing locations on Grove Street where the pedestrian crossing warning signage is insufficient.
• Lack of accommodation for people who bike
• There are no dedicated bike lanes in the entire corridor. The roadway shoulders are generally narrow and not suitable for bike travel.
• Safety concerns for all users, especially for those who walk, bike, and use mobility devices
• The mobility and access difficulties and insufficient accommodations for different modes of transportation in the corridor consequently generate safety concerns for all users, especially those who walk, bike, and use mobility devices.

These issues and concerns are about the corridor in general. The issues and concerns at specific locations in the corridor are further analyzed and identified in Chapters 3 and 4 and are summarized by location along with the proposed improvements in Chapter 5.

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Chapter 3—Crash Data Analysis

3.1      Corridor Crash Statistics

Crash data are an essential resource for identifying safety and operational problems in a study area. Analyzing data on the number of crashes and types of collisions that occur at particular locations, and the circumstances under which crashes occur (such as the time of day and roadway surface conditions) also helps to develop improvement strategies.

For this study, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff collected the most recent five-year (2015–19) crash reports from Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Crash Data Portal (https://apps.impact.dot.state.ma.us/cdp/home) for the entire corridor and conducted a series of crash data analyses.

In total, 176 crashes were recorded in the five-year period at different locations in the corridor. Major statistics analyzed from the data set including the following (see Appendix C for the crash data summarized by year):

• Crash severity: 64 crashes (36 percent) resulted in personal injuries
• Crash types

• 74 (42 percent) rear-end collisions
• 68 (39 percent) angle collisions
• 16 (nine percent) single vehicle collisions
• 12 (seven percent) sideswipe collisions (mostly opposite direction)
• five (three percent) head-on collisions

• Two pedestrian crashes and three bicycle crashes3
• Weekday peak-period crashes (7:00 AM–10:00 AM and 3:30 PM–6:30 PM): 40 percent
• Crashes under daylight conditions: 79 percent
• Crashes with dry roadway conditions: 76 percent

3.2      Corridor and Intersection Crash Rates

Based on the five-year crash data and the estimated average daily traffic, MPO staff estimated that the entire corridor has a crash rate of 3.17 crashes per million vehicle-miles traveled (MVMT). This crash rate is close to the statewide average for minor urban arterials, which is 3.49 crashes per MVMT (updated July 2020, based on 2017 crash data).

Staff further calculated the crash rates by five consecutive segments in the corridor based on the comparable land use characteristics and daily traffic volumes. The crash rates for the five segments include

• Plain Street from Hancock Street (Route 37) to Grove Street: 3.68 crashes per MVMT;
• Grove Street from the south of Plain Street to north of Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center: 1.51 crashes per MVMT;
• Grove Street from Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center to the south of Liberty Street: 5.92 crashes per MVMT;
• Grove Street from the south of Liberty Street to the northwest of Columbian Street: 1.77 crashes per MVMT; and
• Columbian Street from the Grove Street to the Weymouth town line: 5.09 crashes per MVMT.

Note that the segment of Grove Street has a very high crash rate due to intensive activities at the shopping plaza and most of the crashes in the Columbian Street segment were in the vicinity of the intersection at Grove Street. Appendix D contains worksheets showing the crash rate calculations for the entire corridor and the five different segments in the corridor.

Staff also calculated the crash rates at major intersections in the corridor, based on the yearly average of MassDOT crash data and the estimated intersection traffic counts. The crash rates for the signalized intersections are as follows:

• Plain Street at Hancock Street: 0.27 crashes per million entering vehicles (MEV)
• Plain Street at John Mahar Highway: 0.23 crashes per MEV
• Grove Street at Liberty Street: 0.53 crashes per MEV
• Grove Street at Columbian Street: 0.61 crashes per MEV
• Columbian Street at the driveway of the 60 Columbian Street development: 0.09 crashes per MEV

The average crash rate for MassDOT District 6 signalized intersections is 0.71 crashes per MEV (updated June 2018, based on 2016 crash data). None of the intersections have a crash rate higher than the district average. The crash rate at the intersection of Grove Street at Columbian Street is considered to be comparable to the district average.

Among the unsignalized intersections, Plain Street at the driveway of the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) is estimated to have the highest crash rate of 0.53 crashes per MEV. The rate is slightly higher than the average crash rate for unsignalized intersections in MassDOT District 6, which is 0.52 crashes per MEV.

Appendix E contains worksheets showing the crash rate calculations for all the signalized and unsignalized intersections in the corridor.

3.3      Collision Diagrams

To investigate safety and operational problems further, MPO staff constructed collision diagrams for the entire corridor at major intersections and in the roadway segments between those intersections, based on the recent five-year crash data. Appendix F presents eight collision diagrams for eight consecutive sections in the corridor. It also includes information on the crashes in each section (indexed by chronological order of occurrence) summarized in a lookup table following each collision diagram. The information includes crash date and time, severity (property damage only, nonfatal injury, fatality, or unknown), manner of collision type (rear-end, angle, single vehicle, rear-to-rear, sideswipe [same or opposite direction], head-on, or unknown), road surface conditions, weather conditions, most harmful event, vehicle actions prior to crash, and driver contributing code.

Key findings from collision diagram analysis and factors that might have affected safety and operations at major intersections and roadway segments in the corridor are summarized below.

Plain Street at Hancock Street and Washington Street (Figure F-1 and Table F-1)

• The intersection has a large layout and is congested during peak hours.
• Fourteen crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period.
• Four crashes occurred on the eastbound approach (Washington Street).
• Two crashes occurred in the middle of the intersection between a westbound left-turning vehicle and a northbound through vehicle, one of which caused personal injuries.
• Half of the crashes (seven in total) were rear-end collisions
• Other crashes are scattered all over the intersection with no distinct patterns.

Plain Street at RMV Driveway (Figure F-1 and Table F-1)

• During peak hours, Plain Street traffic is busy and, at times, vehicles on the RMV driveway (under stop-control) have difficulties entering the intersection.
• Eleven crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period.
• Approximately half of the total crashes (five in total) occurred between a westbound through vehicle and a southbound left-turning vehicle, one of which was an injury crash.
• One crash involved a cyclist traveling westbound on Plain Street and a vehicle turning left onto the RMV driveway from Plain Street eastbound.

Plain Street at John Mahar Highway and at Grove Street (Figure F-2 and Table F-2)

• This section of Plain Street contains two intersections near each other, one signalized at John Mahar Highway and one unsignalized at Grove Street.

• The short section of Plain Street between the two intersections is usually congested during peak hours.
• Fourteen crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period.
• Majority of the crashes (nine in total) occurred on the roadway between the two intersections. Five of them were rear-end collisions.

Grove Street between Plain Street and Hannah Niles Way (Figure F-3 and Table F-3)

• This roadway section has a relatively wide travel lane in each direction, with a number of side streets from adjacent residential areas.
• Sixteen crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period.
• A majority of the crashes (13 in total) occurred in the section between Grove Circle and Stone Crest Drive, where a roadside commercial building exists, and the roadway is wide and curved.
• One crash involved a deer crossing Grove Street and a driver who traveled straight in the northbound lane attempting to avoid it and crashed into a roadside stone wall.

Grove Street between Hannah Niles Way and Liberty Street (Figure F-4 and Table F-4)

• This is a busy section in the corridor. It contains single- and multi-family residential areas, a church (Heritage United Methodist Church), and a major commercial district (Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center).
• Eighteen crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period.
• Majority of the crashes (12 in total) occurred in the vicinity of the shopping plaza, including eight at the intersection of the plaza’s main driveway and Hemlock Street and three in the area north of the intersection.
• Two crosswalks are located near each other in the section between Hannah Niles Way and the church, just north of the busy shopping center. Fortunately, only two crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period. One involved three vehicles in a rear-end collision and one involved a cyclist and a vehicle travelling southbound near the crosswalk at Hannah Niles Way.

Grove Street at Liberty Street (Figure F-5 and Table F-5)

• The intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street carries significant regional and local traffic and is near the shopping plaza. Traffic is usually congested during peak hours.
• Thirty-seven crashes were recorded in the most recent five-year period. All of them were related to the intersection operations, except two at the plaza’s driveway at Liberty Street and one at the plaza’s driveway at Grove Street.
• Eight angle collisions at the intersection involved a northbound left-turning vehicle and a southbound vehicle.4
• Six rear-end collisions occurred on Grove Street just east of the intersection, potentially due to traffic congestion in the section.

Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street (Figure F-6 and Table F-6)

• This section contains mainly residential areas, with a relatively wide travel lane in each direction.
• Twenty-seven crashes were recorded in the most recent five-year period.
• Most of the crashes (21) were rear-end collisions and dispersed throughout the section.
• One bicycle crash involved a cyclist and a vehicle travelling southbound.

Grove Street at Columbian Street (Figure F-7 and Table F-7)

• The intersection has a large layout with wide turning radii. It is congested during peak hours, especially on the southbound approach of Grove Street.5
• Thirty-three crashes were recorded in the intersection vicinity in the most recent five-year period.
• Noticeably, 13 crashes were identified as angle collisions that involved a southbound left-turn vehicle colliding with a northbound through vehicle.

Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth Town Line (Figure F-8 and Table F-8)

• This section contains only commercial land uses, with a major office park at 60 Columbian Street.
• Six crashes were recorded in the recent five-year period.
• Four crashes were identified as angle collisions that involved a vehicle turning to and from the adjacent developments and colliding with a vehicle in the traffic on Columbian Street.
• One crash involved a pedestrian crossing Columbian Street and a vehicle exiting from an adjacent business.

The findings from collision diagrams are useful for identifying safety and operational problems and developing improvement alternatives at major intersections and specific roadway segments in the corridor. The findings are further discussed in the context of proposed improvements in Chapter 5.

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Chapter 4—Roadway Operations Analysis

To analyze the existing roadway operations, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff requested Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) assistance in collecting automatic traffic recorder (ATR) counts on the approaching roadways and intersection turning movement counts (TMC) for this study. The ATR counts include daily traffic volumes and spot speed counts and the TMCs include pedestrian and bicycle counts at the intersections.

The data collection was performed from April 7 to April 13, 2021, a period that traffic started to increase from the spring in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was prevalent.6 However, the traffic had not reached the pre-pandemic level, according to MassDOT COVID-19 traffic monitoring reports.7

Staff reviewed historical counts and MassDOT COVID-19 traffic monitoring reports for major roadways in District 6 and made a series of adjustments to the collected data, so that the data being used in these operational analyses would reflect the normal pre-pandemic traffic conditions.

4.1      Daily Traffic Volumes

Daily traffic volumes are the fundamental data for analyzing traffic intensity and patterns in a roadway corridor. Staff used the ATR counts collected on weekdays from April 7 to April 13 as the basis to estimate the annual average weekday traffic volumes at key locations in the corridor (see Appendix G for the originally recorded counts by hour).

Staff estimated the annual average weekday daily traffic (AAWDT) in two steps: (1) applying axle adjustment (one percent reduction) and seasonal adjustment (eight percent reduction) factors to the recorded volumes, and (2) increasing the factored volumes by seven and one-half percent to represent the normal traffic conditions based on the analysis of MassDOT traffic monitoring reports. 

Figure 4 shows the estimated 2021 average weekday traffic volumes. The numbers in the graphic are average weekday directional AAWDT volumes representing the normal traffic conditions in 2021. The two tables in the graphic further summarize the data by count location, originally recorded volume, estimated AAWDT from the recorded volumes, and the final adjusted AAWDT by directions and in combination.

In general, the corridor carries an average daily traffic volume of about 14,000 to nearly 19,000 vehicles per weekday. The Grove Street sections adjacent to Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center carry the highest daily traffic ranging from 16,000 to nearly 19,000 vehicles per weekday. The section of Plain Street west of John Mahar Highway carries the least daily traffic of about 14,000 vehicles per weekday. The Columbian Street section carries about 16,500 vehicles per weekday.

4.2      Intersection Turning Movement Counts

In addition to daily traffic counts, MassDOT collected TMCs at major intersections in the study corridor, including vehicle movements (by vehicle classifications), bicycle movements, and pedestrian crossings. These counts were collected during the morning peak period (6:00 AM–10:00 AM) and the evening peak period (2:00 PM–6:00 PM) on Thursday, April 8, 2021, and during the midday peak period (10:00 AM–2:00 PM) on Saturday, April 10, 2021. Appendix H contains these counts summarized by hourly and 15-minute intervals.

Figure 5 shows the weekday AM and PM peak hour TMCs at major intersections in the corridor, based on the TMCs recorded on April 4. The intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street carried about 2,100 vehicles in the AM peak hour and nearly 2,700 vehicles in the PM peak hour. The intersection of Grove Street at Columbian Street carried about 1,650 vehicles in the AM peak hour and about 2,300 vehicles in the PM peak hour. The intersection of Plain Street at John Mahar Highway carried about 1,200 vehicles in the AM peak hour and about 1,800 vehicles in the PM peak hour.

Staff found that the volumes in these counts are generally lower than those collected in recent years before the pandemic by comparing them with historical counts at major intersections in the corridor.8 The analysis observed the following traffic volume and pattern changes:

• In the morning, the peak hour traffic decreased significantly and shifted to one half an hour later from 7:15 AM–8:15 AM to 7:45 AM–8:45 AM.9
• In the evening, the peak hour traffic decreased less significantly and remained in the same time period around 4:45 PM–5:45 PM.
• Both the AM and PM traffic periods had a more flattened peak pattern. The AM peak period shifted to later than usual in the period around 7:45 AM–10:15 AM. The PM peak period expanded to more than three hours and started much earlier, such as 2:30 PM or 2:45 PM.
• The through movements generally had a higher proportion of reduction than the other turning movements at the intersections in the corridor.

Based on this analysis, staff increased the recorded turning movements at the count locations by 25 to 30 percent in AM peak hour and by eight to 10 percent in the PM peak hour to represent normal pre-pandemic traffic conditions, except the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street. Staff used the peak hour TMCs at the intersection directly from a recent transportation study for the redevelopment of 60 Columbian Street (see Appendix I for the original counts collected on Thursday, March 21, 2019).10 Using the counts at this key intersection as the basis, staff made additional adjustments to the counts at other intersections through a count-balancing process.

Figure 6 shows the final adjusted weekday AM and PM peak hour TMCs at major intersections in the corridor. The counts indicate that under normal traffic conditions on an average weekday, the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street could carry nearly 2,700 vehicles in the AM peak hour and about 3,000 vehicles in the PM peak hour. The intersection of Grove Street at Columbian Street could carry about 2,000 vehicles in the AM peak hour and nearly 2,600 vehicles in the PM peak hour. The intersection of Plain Street at John Mahar Highway could carry about 1,650 vehicles in the AM peak hour and nearly 2,000 vehicles in the PM peak hour. The other intersections in the corridor would carry a traffic volume of about 1,350 to 1,550 vehicles per AM peak hour and about 1,500 to 1,900 vehicles per PM peak hour.

The counts also indicate that the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty has a high proportion of left turns on the Grove Street northbound approach and on both approaches of Liberty Street (especially on the northbound), and a high proportion of right turns on the Liberty Street northbound approach. The intersection of Grove Street at Columbian Street has a high proportion of left turns on the southbound approach (Grove Street) and a high proportion of right turns on the northbound approach (Columbian Street). The intersection of Plain Street at John Mahar Highway has a high proportion of left turns on the southbound approach (John Mahar Highway) and a high proportion of right turns on the westbound approach (Plain Street).

The TMCs that MassDOT collected for this study also include Saturday, April 10, 2021, midday peak-period and peak-hour counts. Analysis of the Saturday peak-hour counts indicates that the traffic movement patterns in the Saturday peak hour are similar to that in the PM peak hour at major intersections in the corridor, and the Saturday peak-hour traffic volumes generally are about five to 10 percent lower than those in the PM peak hour.

4.3      Pedestrian and Bicycle Volumes

In addition to traffic volumes, the intersection TMCs—conducted in the extended four-hour peak periods in the weekday morning and evening and on Saturday midday—also provided pedestrian crossing counts and bicycle counts by turning movements on each approach for this study.

The pedestrian crossing counts in the AM and PM peak hours at major intersections in the corridor are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6.11 On the count date, the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street had about three to five pedestrian crossings per peak hour. The corridor sections adjacent to Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center also carried noticeable pedestrian activities. The intersection of Grove Street at the plaza’s middle driveway and Hemlock Street had about five to six pedestrian crossings per peak hour. The crosswalk at the heritage United Church had about one to two pedestrians crossing Grove Street per peak hour. The counts also indicate that there were about five pedestrians walking along Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street in the AM or PM peak hour.

The counts in other hours of the AM or PM peak period (total four hours in each period) generally observed a similar or a smaller number of pedestrian crossings at the various intersections in the corridor.

Review of the bicycle counts at the major intersections indicate that about one to three cyclists traveled along the corridor during the weekday AM or PM peak period. On a fair-weather Saturday (April10, 2021), there were about two to five cyclists traveling in the corridor from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

There are no sidewalks on the east side of Grove Street north of Liberty Street, no sidewalks on the west side of Grove Street south of Grove Street. Most sections of the corridor have no bicycle accommodations in the entire corridor and limited crosswalks across Grove Street. These may have discouraged walking and biking activities in the corridor. In addition, the counts were performed in early April when the weather was still relatively cold and there could have been more people walking and more biking activities in other warmer months of the year.

4.4      Heavy Vehicle Volumes

It is essential to examine the amount of truck and bus traffic in a study corridor, as an unusually high percentage of these heavy vehicles may seriously impact roadway operations.12

Staff reviewed vehicle classifications in the TMCs and identified the percentages of heavy vehicles within the total traffic at major locations in the corridor. On average, heavy vehicles accounted for approximately three to five percent of the corridor traffic in the AM peak hour, and approximately one to two percent in the PM and Saturday peak hours. These percentages are regarded as normal for an urban minor arterial.

The percentage of heavy vehicle traffic by direction of approach to the major intersections was calculated in the intersection capacity analyses and the traffic simulation models used for this study. The capacity analyses detailed in the following sections indicate that the existing volumes of heavy vehicles do not seriously affect traffic operations at the intersections studied.

4.5      Intersection Capacity Analyses

Based on the observed and estimated TMCs, MPO staff constructed peak-hour traffic models for the entire corridor and conducted capacity analyses for major intersections using Synchro, a traffic analysis and simulation program.13 The model set consisted of weekday AM and PM peak hour models and scenarios, including signal retiming under the assumed existing conditions and proposed improvement alternatives under the projected future traffic conditions in 2030.

Figure 7 shows the results of weekday AM and PM peak-hour capacity analyses for the observed 2021 traffic conditions at major intersections in the corridor and the level of service (LOS) each intersection provides.

The LOS was determined based on criteria from the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM).14 The HCM defines LOS, using a qualitative scale from A to F, for signalized and unsignalized intersections as a function of the average vehicle control delay.15 For the intersections in a metropolitan urban area, LOS A, B, and C are considered desirable; LOS D and E are considered acceptable; and LOS F is considered undesirable.

Based on the observed counts on April 8, 2021, the intersection capacity analyses indicate that major intersections in the corridor generally operated at acceptable LOS in the AM or PM peak hour. This primarily resulted from the traffic reduction during the pandemic (see the analysis in Section 3.2).

Figure 8 shows the results of weekday AM and PM peak-hour capacity analyses at major intersections in the corridor for the estimated 2021 normal (non-pandemic) traffic conditions. Based on the estimated 2021 traffic volumes (Figure 6), the intersection capacity analyses indicate that the signalized intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street would operate at an undesirable LOS F, with average delay of more than one and one-half minutes per vehicle in the AM peak hour. Though it would operate at acceptable overall LOS D in the PM peak hour, all the approaches, except the Grove Street southbound, would operate with an average delay of approximately one minute or more.

At the signalized intersection of Grove Street at Columbian Street, the westbound approach (Grove Street) would operate at LOS E with an average delay of approximately one minute in the AM peak hour and at LOS F with an average delay of nearly one and one-half minutes in the PM peak hour.

For the unsignalized intersections, all the stop-controlled approaches would operate at acceptable LOS, except the middle driveway from Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center to Grove Street. The through and left-turn shared approach on the driveway would operate at an undesirable LOS F with average delay of two minutes or more per vehicle during the AM and PM peak hours when the Grove Street traffic is busy.

Staff also explored opportunities of retiming signals at the three signalized intersections and found that all have the potential to improve from the existing timing settings. These options are discussed in Chapter 5. Details of Synchro capacity analysis reports for the major intersections in the weekday AM and PM peak hour under the 2021 observed and estimated traffic conditions are included in Appendices J and K.

4.6      Roadway Travel Speeds

One of the major concerns raised by the town residents is the generally high travel speeds in the corridor. In order to examine the prevailing travel speeds versus regulated speeds, MPO staff requested that MassDOT help collect spot-speed data during the period when automatic traffic counts were being conducted.

Figure 9 shows the existing speed regulations and estimated 85th percentile speed at selected locations in the corridor, based on spot-speed counts collected from automatic traffic recorders. The 85th percentile speed is the speed at or below which 85 percent of vehicles passing a given point are traveling, and it is the principal value used to establish speed controls by MassDOT. It is generally regarded as the prevailing speed at a location where the speed data is collected.

The corridor has three speed regulations:

• 30-mph speed limit: Plain Street and Grove Street between John Mahar Highway and Grove Circle
• 35-mph speed limit: Plain Street between Hancock Street and John Mahar Highway and Grove Street between Hannah Niles Way and Liberty Street
• 40-mph speed limit: Grove Street between Grove Circle and Hannah Niles Way and the rest of the sections in the corridor (Grove Street south of Liberty Street and Columbian Street south of Grove Street)

The regulated speed limit in each zone applies to both directions of the roadways in corridor. The 85th percentile speeds estimated from the data indicate that vehicles generally traveled about three to five mph higher than the regulated speeds, except the Grove Street northbound section between Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center and Heritage Methodist Church. The prevailing speed there is almost 10 mph higher than the 35-mph regulated speed. It is concerning that drivers tend to speed up after they pass the busy commercial section and may not pay attention to the upcoming crosswalk near the church.

The proposed long-term improvements described in this report with the reduction of travel lane width and the addition of separated bicycle lanes would potentially reduce travel speeds in the corridor. At the design stage, a consistent 35 mph speed limit could be considered for the entire corridor, except the 30-mph speed zone near Plain Street. It should be maintained with the same regulation, due to its curvature and limited sight distances. In the near term, if the speed regulation in the aforementioned section is to be changed, an engineering study, based on speed data collected from radar or laser guns, would have to be undertaken.16

4.7      Existing Roadway Layouts and Potential Reconfigurations

The corridor is a two-lane roadway and generally has a right-of-way width of about 60 feet. Based on the existing street layouts and adjacent land uses, the corridor can be distinguished into four roadway sections:

• Plain Street between Hancock Street and Grove Street
• Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street
• Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street
• Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth Town Line

Figures 10 to 13 show the existing roadway cross section and potential reconfiguration alternatives in the four roadway sections. In each of the roadway sections, the cross section represents a typical layout in or near the tightest right-of-way area. It exhibits the view of a southbound driver in the corridor.

Plain Street between Hancock Street and Grove Street

The top graphic in Figure 10 shows that the existing roadway contains a 12-foot-wide travel lane, an eight-foot shoulder, and a six-foot sidewalk in each direction. Field observations indicate that one to two vehicles could occasionally occupy the relatively wide shoulders. As the adjacent areas are fully built, with continuous sidewalks on both sides, two potential reconfigurations are proposed within the existing street layout: (1) to reduce the travel lane to 11.5-foot and install a street-level bike lane (five feet wide) with a traffic buffer (three and half feet wide) in each direction; and (2) to reduce the travel lane to 11.5-foot and install a raised bike (six feet wide) with a roadway shoulder of two and half feet wide (see the middle and bottom graphics of Figure 10).

Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street

The section contains mainly residential land uses (single-family houses and apartments), a senior living community (Grove Manor Estates), a church, and a major business district (Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center). The top graphic in Figure 11 shows the existing roadway layout near the shopping center. It contains a 12.5-foot-wide travel lane and a six-foot shoulder in each direction. Sidewalks (five to six feet wide) exist only on the southbound side and utility poles exist mainly on the northbound side.

The middle and bottom graphics of Figure 11 show two potential reconfiguration alternatives for this roadway section: (1) to reduce the travel lane to an 11.5-foot lane and install a street-level bike lane (five feet wide) with a traffic buffer (three and half feet wide) in each direction, and to install five-foot grass buffers (to accommodate the existing utility poles) and six-foot sidewalks on the northbound side; and (2) to reduce the travel lane to an 11.5-foot lane and install a sidewalk-level bike lane (five feet wide) with a sidewalk buffer (two to five feet wide) and a roadway shoulder (two feet wide) in each direction, and to install six-foot sidewalks with five-foot buffers on the northbound side.

Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street

The section contains mostly residential land uses (single-family houses) and open spaces located near Columbian Street. The travel lanes in this section are wider than the previous two roadway sections, with a width of about 12.5 to 14 feet. The top graphic in Figure 12 shows that it also contains shoulders of variable widths of about five to eight feet. Sidewalks (five to six feet wide) exist only on the northbound side (from Birch Street to Liberty Street) and in a short southbound section (from O’Toole Terrace to Birch Street) and utility poles exist mainly on the southbound side.

Two potential reconfiguration alternatives are proposed in this roadway section: (1) to reduce the travel lane to an 11.5-foot lane and install a street-level bike lane with a traffic buffer in each direction, and to install grass buffers and six-foot sidewalks on the southbound side; and (2) to reduce the travel lane to an 11.5-foot lane and install a sidewalk-level bike lane with a sidewalk buffer and a roadway shoulder in each direction, and to install six-foot sidewalks on the southbound side. The proposed reconfiguration layouts are similar to the previous section, except that the additional sidewalks and the grass buffers for utility pole accommodations are located on the southbound side.

Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth Town Line

This section currently contains only commercial and business land uses. Although the roadway between Grove Street and the development on 60 Columbian Street contains four travel lanes, it is a two-lane roadway extending beyond the Weymouth town line. As shown in Figure 13, the existing layout contains a 12- to 14-foot travel lane and a three- to four-foot shoulder in each direction. No sidewalks exist and utility poles exist mainly on the southbound side.

Two potential reconfiguration alternatives are proposed in this roadway section: (1) to reduce the travel lane to an 11.5-foot lane, install a five-foot street-level bike lane with a traffic buffer and six-foot sidewalks in both directions; and (2) to reduce the travel lane to an 11.5-foot lane and install a five-foot sidewalk-level bike lane with a sidewalk buffer and a roadway shoulder and six-foot sidewalks in both directions. The grass buffers are wider on the southbound side, to accommodate the existing utility poles.

In summary, staff developed two potential reconfiguration alternatives for the corridor based on the analyses of existing roadway layouts and adjacent land uses in different sections. Either of them would significantly improve the safety and accommodation for people who walk and bike, through provisions of sufficient and comfortable sidewalks and separated bike lanes (Alternative 1 at street level and Alternative 2 at sidewalk level), while maintaining efficient traffic flow in the corridor. They have a similar overall layout that provides a framework for developing improvement strategies in different sections and at critical locations of the corridor.

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Chapter 5—Proposed Improvements

Based on the analyses in the previous chapters, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff developed a series of short- and long-term improvements to address safety and operational problems in the corridor. The proposed short-term improvements could be implemented within three years at a relatively low cost. The long-term improvements are more complicated and cover larger areas, thus requiring intensive planning and design, and significant funding.

This chapter contains six sections. The first section outlines the corridor improvement objectives and design strategies based on the identified issues and concerns for the corridor. The next four sections review the existing roadway conditions, discuss issues and concerns, and propose short- and long-term improvements for four consecutive but distinct roadway sections in the corridor. The last section in this chapter provides an overview of the proposed long-term improvements under the projected 2030 traffic conditions.

5.1      Corridor Improvement Objectives and Design Strategies

Based on the identified key issues and concerns and discussions with the advisory members, MPO staff developed the following objectives to improve the safety, mobility, and access for all users of the corridor:

• improve safety for all users of the corridor
• maintain safe travel speeds in the corridor
• improve and provide safe and comfortable accommodations for people who walk and bike
• provide safe and convenient access to adjacent businesses and residences
• enhance access management to reduce traffic conflicts
• minimize delays and increase safety at intersections while maintaining efficient traffic flow in the corridor

To achieve the objectives, staff applied the following design strategies to the proposed improvement alternatives:

• reduce travel lane width to 11.5 feet wide
• reduce intersection layout and turning radii
• add sidewalks where absent and expand existing sidewalks to at least six feet wide where applicable
• improve safety and operations at existing crosswalks and add crosswalks where needed
• provide separated bike lanes wherever applicable
• provide sufficient buffer from traffic for people who walk and bike
• modify intersections and access to and from developments to improve safety and mobility for all users

5.2      Plain Street between Hancock Street and Pond Street

This section discusses Plain Street between Hancock Street and Grove Street, including the intersection of Plain Street at Grove Street. The adjacent land uses include mostly residential and some commercial areas, with the roadway mostly abutted by single-family houses (Figure 10). The section contains two intersections in close proximity, one signalized at John Mahar Highway and one unsignalized at Grove Street.

5.2.1   Issues and Concerns

In summary, these are the major issues and concerns identified for this roadway section:

• The roadway section between John Mahar Highway and Grove Street is frequently congested during peak hours, as it is short and curved with limited storage space. Several crashes occurred in this section in recent years.
• A noticeable number of crashes occurred at the intersection of Plain Street and the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) driveway. The driveway is wide, and the stop sign at the approach is small and not very visible.
• No dedicated bike lanes exist for people to bike in the section. Although shoulders of four to six feet wide exist on Plain Street west of John Mahar Highway, they are occasionally occupied by parked vehicles.
• The roadway’s adjacent areas are almost built up, with little room for multimodal improvements.

5.2.2   Proposed Short-Term Improvements

In the short term, this study proposes the following improvements for consideration:

• Increase the stop sign size to 36 inch by 36 inch on Plain Street westbound at Grove Street.
• Examine the feasibility of adding backplates and retroreflective borders to the existing signal displays at the intersection of Plain Street and John Mahar Highway.
• Increase the stop sign size to 36 inch by 36 inch and double up the signs at the RMV driveway.
• Examine the feasibility of restriping Plain Street west of John Mahar Highway to include street-level separated bike lanes by reducing the existing travel lanes to 11.5 feet wide (Figure 10).

5.2.3   Proposed Long-Term Improvements

In the long term, this study proposes the following improvements for the section in general and at the intersections of Plain Street at John Mahar Highway and at Grove Street. Figure 14 shows the conceptual plan of the proposed improvements.17

The section in general

• Maintain the existing roadway layout on Plain Street west of John Mahar Highway.
• Widen Plain Street from John Mahar Highway to Grove Street under the available right-of-way.
• Reduce the travel lanes to 11.5 feet wide.
• Add street-level separated bike lanes or raised bike lanes with traffic buffers.18
• Improve the existing sidewalks and expand them to at least six feet wide wherever applicable.
• Further study the feasibility of installing separated bike lanes on John Mahar Highway and Ivory Street between this corridor and Braintree Station.19

Plain Street at John Mahar Highway

• Reduce turning radii and shorten crossing distances.
• Slightly widen the south side to accommodate a bike lane continuing through the intersection.
• Extend westbound left-turn storage length to 175 feet.
• Upgrade traffic signal system and signal displays with backplates and retroreflective borders.
• Retime traffic signal as needed in the future.20

Plain Street at Grove Street

• Maintain stop-control operation.
• Widen the Plain Street eastbound to add a short left-turn lane (with 50-foot storage) and to install a bike lane (five-foot minimal).
• Reduce turning radii and shorten crossing distances on the Plain Street westbound approach.
• Extend westbound left-turn storage length to 175 feet.
• Upgrade traffic signal system and signal displays with backplates and retroreflective borders.
• Retime traffic signal as needed in the future.21

5.3      Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street

This section discusses Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street, including the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street. It has wider travel lanes than the previous section and lacks sidewalks on the northbound side (Figure 11). It contains mainly residential zones, a church (Heritage United Methodist Church), and a major business district. The district, including Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center, the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street, the businesses adjacent to the intersection, is the busiest section in the corridor that carries high traffic volume and considerable pedestrian activities. Meanwhile, survey respondents commented that they would walk to the shopping area if safer and more convenient accesses are provided.

5.3.1   Issues and Concerns

In summary, these are major issues and concerns regarding this roadway section:

• No sidewalks exist on the northbound side, except a short section from the northern edge of the shopping center to Hannah Niles Way. Sidewalks in the section are fragmental due to wide driveways with large turning radii.
• Two crosswalks are located closely (within 175 feet) in the section between Hannah Niles Way and the church. They have insufficient warning signage to alert drivers.22  
• No dedicated bike lanes exist for people to bike. Although the section between Sunnyside Lane and Hannah Niles Way has shoulders of approximately five feet or slightly wider in both directions, vehicles usually travel at fast speeds of more than 40 mph.
• The intersection of Grove Street and Liberty Street is usually congested during the AM and PM peak hours, as it carries heavy regional and local traffic and lacks essential dedicated turning lanes and signal phases on all approaches.
• The intersection has a high crash rate and a high proportion of left-turn crashes.
• The Grove Street section along Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center is also congested during the peak hours. The section had a number of crashes in recent years, with a noticeable cluster at the intersection of Grove Street at Hemlock Street and the shopping center’s middle driveway.
• There are three driveways connecting the shopping center to Grove Street. Given the busy traffic on Grove Street and random pedestrian crossings, they should be under stop-control but only the middle driveway has a stop sign in place.

5.3.2   Proposed Short-Term Improvements

In the short term, this study proposes the following improvements for this roadway section:

• Consider consolidating the two closely located crosswalks into one and installing Rectangular Repaid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) to enhance the standard pedestrian crossing warning signs and location plaques on both sides in both directions of the roadway (Figure 15).23 , 24 , 25
• Install a Yield Here To Pedestrians regulatory sign (MUTCD R1-5 or R1-5a) along with a yield line (shark’s teeth) pavement marking at about 30 feet from the crosswalk on the northbound and southbound approaches.
• Clear overgrown vegetation in the area, especially on the northbound side.
• Retime the traffic signal at the intersection of Grove Street and Liberty Street under the existing phasing sequence, with the pedestrian signal being increased from 22 seconds to 27 seconds.26 ^, 27  
• Examine potential in adding backplates and retroreflective orders on the existing signal displays.
• Install stop signs at the north and south driveways of the shopping center to require drivers to stop and observe traffic and pedestrians before entering Grove Street.

5.3.3   Proposed Long-Term Improvements

In the long term, this study proposes the following improvements for the section in general, the intersection of Grove Street at Liberty Street, and the section in the vicinity of Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center. Figures 15 and 16 show the conceptual plans of the proposed improvements.

The section in general

• Reduce the travel lanes to 11.5 feet wide.
• Install street- or sidewalk-level separated bike lanes with traffic buffers on both sides of the roadway.
• Install six-foot sidewalks on the northbound side.
• Improve the existing sidewalks on the southbound side and expand them to six feet wide wherever applicable.
• Install five-foot grass buffers on the northbound side between the proposed bike lanes and sidewalks to accommodate the existing utility poles.
• Reduce driveway widths and tuning radii wherever applicable.
• Change speed limit from 40 miles per hour (mph) to 35 mph in the section between Grove Circle and Hannah Niles Way after the roadway is reconfigured with the above improvements.

Grove Street at Liberty Street

• Reconstruct the intersection under the existing right-of-way.28
• Add necessary turning lanes and rearrange the following travel lanes29
• Eastbound (Grove Street): convert the existing two lanes into three that include a left-turn lane of at least 75 feet long, a through lane, and a through and right-turn shared lane.
• Westbound (Grove Street): convert the existing two lanes into three that include a left-turn lane of about 200 feet long, a through lane, and a right-turn lane of about 50 feet long.
• Northbound (Liberty Street): convert the existing two lanes into three that include a left-turn lane of at least 175 feet long, a through lane, and a right-turn lane of about 75 feet long.
• Southbound (Liberty Street): convert the existing two lanes into a left-turn lane (about 150-feet long) and a through and right-turn shared lane.
• Provide bike lanes continuing through the intersection on Grove Street.30
• Upgrade traffic signal system and signal displays with backplates and retroreflective borders.

Grove Street in the vicinity of Tedeschi Plaza Shopping Center

• Proposed Improvements at the middle driveway (and Hemlock Street):31
• Install traffic signal and coordinate it with the new signal at Liberty Street.32
• Install crosswalks on all approaches with pedestrian signals and an exclusive signal phase.
• Add a left-turn exclusive lane on the Grove Street southbound approach.
• Proposed Improvements at the south driveway:
• Reduce driveway width and turning radii.
• Install stop signs on both sides at suitable locations (not to obstruct the drivers’ view of Grove Street traffic and pedestrian activities).
• Prohibit left turns from the driveway during the AM and PM peak hours.
• Proposed Improvements at the north driveway:
• Reduce driveway width and turning radii.
• Install a stop sign on the right side at a suitable location.
• Prohibit left turns from the driveway.

5.4      Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street

This section discusses Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street. It contains mostly residential areas, with some open spaces located near Columbian Street (Figure 12). The travel lanes in this section are wide and with wide shoulders. Sidewalks exist only on the northbound side and utility poles exist mainly on the southbound side.

5.4.1   Issues and Concerns

In summary, these are major issues and concerns regarding this roadway section:

• No sidewalks exist on the southbound side, except a short section between O’Toole Terrace and Birth Street.
• A crosswalk exists on Grove Street just north of O’Toole Terrace. It situates at a slightly downhill location where vehicles usually travel at high speeds.33  
• No dedicated bike lanes exist for people to bike. Although some sections have shoulders of about five feet or slightly wider, vehicles usually travel at fast speeds of more than 40 mph throughout the section (under 40-mph speed regulation).
• Crashes occurred at various locations throughout the section, with a noticeable number of them identified as multiple-vehicle, rear-end, and out-of-control single-vehicle collisions.
• Birch Street is a local road that contains mainly residential areas. According to the area’s residents, making left turns to and from Birch Street usually encounters excessive delays during peak hours.34

5.4.2   Proposed Short-Term Improvements

In the short term, this study proposes the following improvements for consideration:

• Restripe the travel lanes to 11.5 to 12 feet wide with shoulders of approximately five feet on both sides of the roadway.
• Install a Yield Here To Pedestrians regulatory sign (MUTCD R1-5 or R1-5a) along with a yield line (shark’s teeth) pavement marking at about 30 feet from the crosswalk on the southbound approach and at about 50 feet from the crosswalk on the northbound approach.

5.4.3   Proposed Long-Term Improvements

In the long term, this study proposes the following improvements for the section in general, at the uncontrolled crossing location, and at the intersection at Birch Street (Figure 17):

• Reduce the travel lanes to 11.5 feet wide.
• Install street- or sidewalk-level separated bike lanes with traffic buffers on both sides of the roadway.
• Install six-foot sidewalks on the southbound side.
• Improve the existing sidewalks on the northbound side and expand them to six feet wide wherever applicable.
• Install five-foot grass buffers on the southbound side between the proposed bike lanes and sidewalks to accommodate the existing utility poles.
• Reduce driveway widths and tuning radii wherever applicable.
• Change the speed limit from 40 mph to 35 mph for the entire section after the roadway is reconfigured with the above improvements.
• Install RRFB to supplement the pedestrian warning crossing signs at the uncontrolled crosswalk on Grove Street (north of O’Toole Terrace).35
• Continue monitoring traffic conditions at the intersection of Grove Street and Birch Street and further study the needs for improvement measures.36

5.5      Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth Town line

This section discusses Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth town line, including the intersection of Grove Street and Columbian Street. It is a two-lane roadway, except a four-lane section between Grove Street and the driveway of the business park at 60 Columbian Street. The two intersections are signalized and under coordination. The adjacent areas of the roadway are all zoned as business districts. No sidewalks exist on either side and utility poles exist mainly on the southbound side (Figure 13).

5.5.1   Issues and Concerns

In summary, these are major issues and concerns regarding this roadway section:

• No accommodations for people who walk.
• No dedicated bike lanes exist for people to bike, and the shoulders are generally narrow (about three feet or less).
• The intersection at Columbian Street has a large layout with wide turning radii.
• Traffic congestion at the intersection mainly occurs on the southbound approach of Grove Street. The approach does not have a dedicated left-turn lane and left turns are operated under a permissive-protected phase (lagging protective). During peak hours (especially in the PM), left-turn vehicles usually queue up and impede through traffic movements. Meanwhile, vehicles turning left there have to cross two northbound travel lanes under heavy traffic conditions.
• Nearly 30 crashes occurred at the intersection in recent five years. Almost half of them were angle crashes involving a southbound left-turn vehicle colliding with a northbound through vehicle.
• The large open area south of the intersection is occupied by wetlands and should remain intact.

5.5.2   Proposed Short-Term Improvements

In the short term, this study proposes the following improvements for consideration:

• At the intersection of Grove Street and Columbian Street, change the southbound left-turn operation from permissive-protective (lagging protective) to protected-permissive (leading protective) mode and retime the traffic signal under the existing cycle length.37  
• Examine the potential of adding backplates and retroreflective orders on the existing signal displays.

5.5.3   Proposed Long-Term Improvements

In the long term, this study proposes the following improvements for the section in general, the intersection of Grove Street at Columbian Street, and the intersection of Columbian Street at the driveway of 60 Columbian Street. Figure 10 shows the conceptual plan of the proposed improvements.

The section in general

• Reduce the travel lanes to 11.5 feet wide.
• Install street- or sidewalk-level separated bike lanes with traffic buffers on both sides of the roadway.
• Install six-foot sidewalks on both sides of the roadway.
• Install five-foot grass buffers on the southbound side between the proposed bike lanes and sidewalks to accommodate the existing utility poles.
• Install two- to three-foot grass buffers on the northbound side between the proposed bike lanes and sidewalks.
• Reduce driveway widths and tuning radii wherever applicable.
• Install eight- to 10-foot multiuse path on the southbound side from Grove Street to the driveway at 60 Columbian Street for people walking and biking.
• Change speed limit from 40 mph to 35 mph after the roadway is reconfigured with the above improvements.

Grove Street at Columbian Street

• Reduce the northbound through lanes from two to one.
• Reduce intersection layout and turning radii.
• Install crosswalks with pedestrian signals.
• Provide a multiuse path (shared by people who walk and people who bike) through the intersection.
• Upgrade traffic signal system and signal displays with backplates and retroreflective borders.

Columbian Street at the Driveway of 60 Columbian Street

• Change the two northbound travel lanes to one through lane and one exclusive left-turn lane.
• Install crosswalks with pedestrian signals.
• Upgrade traffic signal system and signal displays with backplates and retroreflective borders.
• Maintain signal coordination with the intersection of Grove Street and Columbian Street.

5.6      Overview of Proposed Long-Term Improvements Under Projected 2030 Traffic Conditions

To further examine the effect of the proposed long-term improvements at the various locations described above, staff constructed traffic models for projecting traffic conditions in the study corridor to the horizon year 2030. Staff projected the 2030 traffic volumes by using growth factors estimated from the Boston Region MPO’s regional transportation planning model. The models project that traffic in the study area would increase by three percent (about 0.3 percent annually) in the AM peak period and two percent (about 0.25 percent annually) in the PM peak period from 2021 to 2030.

Figure 19 summarizes the weekday AM and PM peak hour intersection capacity analyses for major intersections in the corridor under the projected 2030 traffic conditions. With the proposed long-term improvements, all the intersections would operate at an acceptable level of service (LOS D or better) during the weekday AM and PM peak hours.

Synchro capacity analysis reports for major intersections in the study corridor are included in Appendix M. These reports present the results of the analysis of the 2030 weekday AM and PM peak-hour traffic conditions, under the assumption that the proposed improvements are implemented.

The analysis indicates that the proposed long-term improvements would improve traffic operations and the accommodation and safety for people who walk at critical locations of the corridor, especially at the intersections of Grove Street at Liberty Street and at Columbian Street. Meanwhile, as analyzed in the previous sections of this chapter, they would significantly enhance the mobility and safety of all users in the corridor.

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Chapter 6—Summary and Recommendations

This study provides a vision for the long-term development of the Grove Street corridor in Braintree and presents a series of improvements that would support the corridor to operate safely and efficiently for all people who walk, bike, and drive, or ride with others in the corridor. The recommendations included are based on a series of analyses that were performed to identify safety and operational problems in the corridor and to develop short- and long-term improvement alternatives.

The recommended short-term improvements could enhance safety for all users and improve traffic operations in the study area. With a high benefit-to-cost ratio, these short-term improvements should be considered and implemented as soon as resources are available. Among the improvements proposed at various locations in the corridor, two projects were recommended for consideration in the short term:

• Combine the two closely located crosswalks on Grove Street in the vicinity of Heritage United Methodist Church and install Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons and a series of pedestrian crossing warning signs and pavement markings to enhance the conspicuity of crossing activities and improve safety and access for people who walk.
• Review and retime the traffic signals at the intersections of Grove Street at Liberty Street and at Columbian Street, including increasing the pedestrian signal time for people to cross the intersection at Liberty Street.

To significantly improve the safety, mobility, and access for all users of the roadway would require a series of long-term improvements. The following major improvements are proposed for the corridors:

• Reduce travel lane width to 11.5 feet wide.
• Install street- or sidewalk-level separated bike lanes with traffic buffers on both sides of the roadway.
• Install six-foot sidewalks wherever absent and improve the existing sidewalks and expand them to six feet wide wherever applicable.
• Install five-foot grass buffers between the proposed bike lanes and sidewalks to accommodate the existing utility poles.
• Reduce driveway widths and tuning radii wherever applicable.
• Change the speed limit from 40 to 35 miles per hour (mph) in the corridor, except the curved and busy section between John Mahar Highway and Grove Circle (30 mph posted speed limit), after the implementation of the above improvements.
• Reconstruct the intersections of Grove Street at Liberty Street and at Columbian Street, with an upgraded traffic signal system.

The proposed long-term improvements have a number of expected benefits:

• Improve accommodations and safety for people who walk, bike, and use a mobility device.
• Improve mobility and safety for people to access adjacent businesses and residences.
• Sustain appropriate travel speeds and increase safety for all users in the corridor.
• Maintain efficient traffic operations in the corridor.
• Support and enhance economic activities.
• Enhance livability for neighborhoods and the subregion.

Implementing the recommended long-term improvements in this corridor of approximately two miles long would require sufficient resources. Four implementation stages can be considered for the entire corridor, as follows:

• Grove Street between Hannah Niles Way and Liberty Street, including the intersection at Liberty Street
• Grove Street between Plain Street and Hannah Niles Way, including the intersection at Plain Street
• Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street
• Columbian Street south of Grove Street, including the intersection at Grove Street

Depending on the available and potential resources, the Town of Braintree could consult with Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) District 6 and reprioritize the implementation stages by rearranging, combining, or dividing the four proposed segments.

Meanwhile, achieving the proposed Complete Streets vision for the corridor via the recommended improvements would require significant effort and collaboration on the part of all stakeholders, including the Town of Braintree, residents, business owners, and MassDOT. All parties must concur on how the recommendations should be realized in a resourceful and fiscally responsible manner.

The next steps toward implementation are for the town to identify priority sections and work with MassDOT District 6 to initiate a project. For municipalities to initiate roadway projects, MassDOT developed an online tool for submission. The Massachusetts Project Intake Tool, also known as MaPIT, is a web-based application designed to help proponents map, create, and initiate projects with available in-house geographic information system (GIS) resources. The tool can be accessed from the GeoPass webpage of Massachusetts GIS for Transportation website, https://massdothpi.esriemcs.com/mapit.

To move a project from the initiation to the development stage, the Town of Braintree must obtain favorable assessment from MassDOT’s Project Review Committee, start the project design process, and identify potential funding sources by coordinating with MassDOT and the Boston Region MPO.

MPO staff will continue to support this work by assisting with further project planning and the funding process. In addition, staff will continue monitoring the progress toward implementing this study’s recommendations via the MPO’s Unified Planning Work Program Study Recommendations Tracking Database.

Appendix N contains details about the various steps in MassDOT’s project development process, including a schematic timetable. Information about the project development process may be found on MassDOT’s website, at https://www.mass.gov/service-details/project-development-process.

Figure 1
Study Area Map

Figure 2
Transit Services in the Area

Figure 3
Corridor User Survey Questions and Results

Figure 4
Average Weekday Traffic Volumes

Figure 5
2021 Observed Weekday AM/PM Peak-Hour Intersection Traffic and Pedestrian Volumes

Figure 6
2021 Estimated Weekday AM/PM Peak-Hour Intersection Traffic and Pedestrian Volumes

Figure 7
2021 Weekday AM/PM Peak-Hour Intersection Capacity Analysis: Observed Traffic Conditions

Figure 8
2021 Weekday AM/PM Peak-Hour Intersection Capacity Analysis: Estimated Traffic Conditions

Figure 9
Speed Regulations and Estimated 85th Percentile Speeds

Figure 10
Existing Roadway Cross Section and Potential Reconfigurations: Plain Street between Hancock Street and Grove Street

Figure 11
Existing Roadway Cross Section and Potential Reconfigurations: Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street

Figure 12
Existing Roadway Cross Section and Potential Reconfigurations: Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street

Figure 13
Existing Roadway Cross Section and Potential Reconfigurations: Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth Town Line

Figure 14
Proposed Improvements Conceptual Plan: Plain Street between Hancock Street and Grove Street

Figure 15
Proposed Improvements Conceptual Plan: Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street (Section 1)

Figure 16
Proposed Improvements Conceptual Plan: Grove Street between Plain Street and Liberty Street (Section 2)

Figure 17
Proposed Improvements Conceptual Plan: Grove Street between Liberty Street and Columbian Street

Figure 18
Proposed Improvements Conceptual Plan: Columbian Street between Grove Street and Weymouth Town Line

Figure 19
2030 Weekday AM/PM Peak Hour Intersection Capacity Analyses: Projected Traffic Conditions with Proposed Improvements

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Appendices

• Study Advisory Members
• Summary of Corridor User Survey Results and Comments
• Corridor Crash Data (2015–19) Summary
• Corridor Crash Rate Worksheets
• Intersection Crash Rate Worksheets
• Collision Diagrams and Crash Look-Up Tables
• Automatic Traffic Recorder Counts, April 7–13, 2021
• Turning Movement Counts, April 8 and 10, 2021
• Turning Movement Counts, Grove Street at Liberty Street, March 21, 2019
• Intersection Capacity Analyses: Weekday AM/PM Peak Hour, 2021 Observed Traffic Condition
• Intersection Capacity Analyses: Weekday AM/PM Peak Hour, 2021 Estimated Traffic Condition
• Intersection Capacity Analyses: Weekday AM/PM Peak Hour, Signal Retiming Scenarios under 2021 Estimated Traffic Conditions
• Intersection Capacity Analyses: Weekday AM/PM Peak Hour, 2030 Projected Traffic conditions with Proposed Improvements
• MassDOT Project Development Process

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