Residents call for extension of bus line into Waltham

Residents have been calling for an extension to the  MBTA Route 73 bus line through Trapelo Road in Waltham

The Routh 73 bus line stretches from Harvard Square all the way to Waverley Square in Belmont, which borders Waltham.

Just past the Belmont-Waltham line sit neighborhoods surrounding the CedarHill Reservation and the newly built Universal Playground at 200 Trapelo Road.

Rachel Malley, a resident of the Owl Hill neighborhood, thinks the area has lacked adequate public transportation for some time.

A longstanding issue

“There is no sidewalk on the north side of Trapelo in our little area here,” she said.

Malley and her husband have to walk a mile to the Waverley Square stop in Belmont, and she says it feels unsafe, especially in the winter with no sidewalk.

Ward 3 Councilor Bill Hanley told The Times that residents have been asking for the bus extension for at least a decade, but so far it has not been approved.

On June 28, 2022, the MBTA held public meetings as a part of the Bus Network Redesign project, an effort to extend and improve bus service.

During the meeting, George Darcy, city councilor for Ward 3 at the time, called for an extension to the Route  73 bus line into North Waltham.

“North Waltham is underserved in regard to public transportation,” he said.

He noted that the Beaver Brook reservation, National Archives at Boston, Gann Academy and eight neighborhoods in the area all lacked adequate public transportation.

Malley also attended the meeting and said it included a large number of Waltham residents. She told The Times that she was disappointed that an extension into Waltham was not added.

“We didn’t get what we asked for even though we had a large turnout,” she said.

Additional bus routes are needed

The area also lacks consistent public transportation to downtown Waltham.

According to Malley, the Route 554 commuter bus had a stop at the intersection of Waverley Oaks and Trapelo roads prior to the pandemic, but it was eliminated in 2020 due to a lack of usage from Boston commuters.

There is a stop at Beaver Street and Waverley Oakes Road, but it is more than  a mile walk from Owl Hill and 200 Trapelo Road and only runs on weekdays.

Others share the sentiment that the area needs more public transportation.

“There have been many units of housing added along Trapelo Road, plus that shiny new playground, which is accessible once you get there, not everyone drives,” Alice Taylor wrote in response to a post in the Waltham, MA Facebook group by The Times.

Another member of the group, Brian Coonley, agreed, writing, “It would provide and open up multi-modal public transportation for many residents of both the North and South sides of Waltham.”

The Times reached out to a spokesperson with the MBTA, who said that there are no active plans to extend the bus line into Waltham.