The town will add $135,000 worth of flashing lights to pedestrian crosswalks at six of Arlington’s most dangerous crossings, including one where an 85-year-old man was killed in November 2024, through a state Department of Transportation program.
The lights, called Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB), are the yellow crossing signs with flashing yellow lights on top. The Select Board voted on July 21 to accept the “equipment to be procured and delivered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) for the benefit of the Town, in perpetuity, to be used for the purposes provided,” according to the votes.
The sites that are slated to receive the new signs with flashing lights are:
- Eastern Avenue at the Brackett School
- Chestnut Street at Medford Street
- Summer Street at Victoria Road
- Avenue at Dundee Road (at the Trader Joe’s)
- Park Avenue at Wollaston Avenue
- Park Avenue at Oakland Avenue
“MassDOT reached out to the town last fall, and other municipalities, to see if there was interest in MassDOT procuring and delivery of RRFB equipment at their own cost,” John Alessi, the town’s senior transportation planner.
Town Manager Jim Feeney told the Select Board July 21 that Arlington will receive an additional $150,000 as part of the state Legislature’s “fair share supplemental” budget vote to use for safety enhancements in town. He noted that the money will cover most of the town’s cost for the installation of the flashing signs and engineering work for the ongoing safety efforts for the intersection of Mass. Avenue at Appleton Street.
The board voted unanimously on both measures to allow the town to accept the RRFBs. Safety work at these sites has been ongoing and installation of the new RRFBs must take place within 90 days of receiving the equipment. That deadline factored into which crosswalks will receive the RRFBs, such as the Brackett School, where, because of previous work, the installation of the solar-powered flashing lights will be easier than other areas where ADA-compliant ramps and other work needs to be done, according to Feeney.
Once the town received the initial inquiry, the town reviewed ongoing projects and safety efforts and selected six pedestrian crossings. After its review, MassDOT approved all six, according to Alessi. The town is preparing for another round of MassDOT projects, he said.
“[There are] some really needed safety upgrades for pedestrians throughout the town,” Alessi told the Select Board.
Two critical crossings
Two of the crossings to receive the flashing lights are sites of serious accidents including Mass. Avenue at Dundee Road where Arlington resident Harlan Cuklanz, 85, was struck and killed by a car on Nov. 26, 2024, as he tried to cross the intersection, near the Trader Joe’s. It was the third time a pedestrian was struck by a car in Arlington Heights in a little more than a year.
On Feb. 7, 2025, a 16-year-old Arlington High School student was struck by a car and seriously injured while in a crosswalk on Park Avenue at Oakland Avenue. The teen was attempting to cross the street at about 3:20 p.m. when the driver of a car heading up the hill drove around a stopped vehicle and hit the young man. The teen was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries, which his family said would be followed by several months of recuperation at home.
A 77-year-old Belmont woman, traveling southbound on Park Avenue toward Belmont, was cited for driving in the bike lane and striking the pedestrian on Park Avenue and attempting to pass another vehicle that was stopped to allow the teen to cross the roadway, Arlington Police Chief Julie Flaherty said in a Feb. 11 news release.
In November 2023, an 81-year-old woman was hit by a car while she was walking in the crosswalk across Park Avenue at Wollaston Avenue, suffering serious injuries. She was taken by ambulance to Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, where she spent a couple of weeks in intensive care, followed by a month in the hospital, before spending six months in rehabilitation and assisted living facilities, according to information provided to YourArlington. And, in May 2020, Charles Proctor, one of two bicyclists struck by a car at the intersection of Appleton Street and Mass. Avenue, died from his injuries.
Safety review of Park Avenue corridor
As part of the Park Avenue Safety Improvement Project, some 150 people turned out for a Town Hall meeting on March 31 to hear about, see and provide feedback on changes, and solicit traffic calming ideas for three intersections that do not have traffic signals: Park Avenue at Paul Revere Road and Wollaston Avenue, Park Avenue at Appleton Street, and Park Avenue at Oakland Avenue. (YourArlington’s full report of the March 31 meeting can be accessed here. >>>)
The town’s consultant for the project, Stantec, presented an overview of the Park Avenue safety project before the group broke up and reviewed suggestions for the site at stations with blueprints, maps and photographs that turned the meeting into a charrette. But top of mind were the information and statistics presented by Erin Cameron, Stantec’s project manager, including: 70 percent of vehicle-trips along the Park Avenue Corridor are “pass-throughs,” where the vehicle neither starts nor stops in Arlington; that more than 90 percent of all traffic in both directions is cars or trucks and the two MBTA bus routes; and that vehicle speed (before recent changes were implemented) regularly topped 40 mph downhill (north) and 35 mph uphill (south).
In August 2025, the number of MBTA bus trips will increase when Route 76 is returned to service. For more on the changes to the routes 62 and 76 service to Arlington, see here >>
Some safety measures have already been put in place. Among the actions the town has taken to make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists include imposing a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit, a “radar feedback sign” that tells drivers how fast they are traveling, new yellow signs marking crosswalks, bright orange flags at the intersection of Park and Oakland avenues, increased traffic enforcement and the continued police presence along the Park Avenue corridor.
According to information presented to the Select Board at the July 21 meeting, vehicles have been traveling slower along Park Avenue, since the speed limit feedback sign was installed. The board also heard from the Transportation Advisory Committee on safety issues along Summer Street.
The town of Arlington has been working for more than a year on a plan to improve safety along the corridor, which is used by two MBTA buses and numerous commuters to get to their destinations. In January, the town announced the launch of safety improvements at Park Avenue, Paul Revere Road and Wollaston – an initiative that aims to enhance safety for all roads that feed onto Park Avenue. The project was fast-tracked by the Town Manager and Town Meeting last summer allowing for work to begin in the current fiscal year. Stantec has been on-site since November, the team said at the Town Hall meeting, and would turn over the feedback from the meeting to its engineering team to work through feasibilty and costs.
Stantec has been under contract since fall 2024 to help the town with the design, engineering, and public engagement phases for this project and sought out the community’s input at the March 31 meeting. Actual plans could be presented to the community by early fall, about the time that the new flashing crosswalk signs are installed.
Since the November accident, APD Chief Flaherty has directed increased patrols and the use of both marked and unmarked police cruisers at some of Arlington’s busiest intersections, including along Park Avenue, according to the town’s press release. “Our Department remains committed to enforcing traffic laws, educating the community and working with Town officials to improve safety measures. We urge motorists to remain alert, obey speed limits and yield to pedestrians in crosswalks,” Flaherty said.
APD’s safety campaign brought increased traffic enforcement and education at crosswalks throughout the town. “This initiative aims to enhance safety for all road users, including those who walk, bike, roll, drive, and take public transit along the Park Avenue corridor,” according to the town’s release. To follow the project’s progress, see the town’s website via this link
This story, published July 23, 2025, is based on reporting, research, and information from previous YourArlington articles. It will be updated.
