The week ahead: Mayor’s street planning proposals up for committee discussion

Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy plans to propose a new plan for traffic mitigation on Lowell Street at the Traffic Commission meeting this week. She had mentioned in a City Council committee meeting that she intends this to be a part of more comprehensive improvements to traffic on the South Side. 

The plan will involve immediately installing four new three-way stop signs, and by next spring the mayor proposes adding two speed bumps in each direction and rumble strips at the intersection of Pine and Lowell streets to discourage overly wide turns. She is also proposing adding trees along one side of the street, and the plan preserves previously discussed changes like new and repainted crosswalks.

Lowell Street has been a topic at multiple city meetings since McCarthy, Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris and Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan held a South Side Neighborhood meeting in September about street safety and speeding concerns. The ward councilors recently held another neighborhood meeting on Nov. 6 to cover the mayor’s new proposals. 

Harris told The Waltham Times that this plan addresses her concerns for the street, but that she expects it will meet some opposition from the Traffic Commission. She and Logan have started a petition to approve the plan, which she plans to bring to the meeting. The petition had 108 signatures as of noon on Sunday.

The mayor is also expected to propose creating arterial bike paths throughout the city, creating bike infrastructure along existing roads, at the City Council’s Monday Committee of the Whole meeting.

Council on Aging

The Board of Trustees for the city’s Council on Aging, which organizes services for older Waltham residents and advocates for legislation that includes and protects them, is slated to meet this week. It will meet in the conference room of the William F. Stanley Senior Center at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 17.

City Council committees

In addition to the mayor’s bike lane proposals, the City Council will also begin to discuss how to place bike-sharing stations at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday.

In other business: 

• The Ordinances and Rules Committee will discuss an ongoing special permit modification request from the marijuana dispensary company Middlesex Integrative Medicine. 
• The Finance Committee will go over a funding grant for police traffic enforcement. 
• The Public Works and Public Safety Committee will discuss a resurfacing proposal for the private way Blossom Street. 
• The Licenses and Franchises Committee will go over a series of license renewal requests, including for secondhand clothing and used car sales, extended store hours, one for a lodging house and one for a fortune teller.

Committees will meet at City Hall starting at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

Retirement Board

The Waltham Retirement Board will meet this week to discuss bookkeeping matters, including new hires in city government.

The board will meet Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 4:45 p.m. in the Hoover Meeting Room at City Hall and will stream the meeting via Zoom.

Zoning Board of Appeals

The ZBA is a five-person board charged with reviewing new and existing buildings that may violate the city’s zoning code. 

The board has the power to grant project-specific variances to the code, overrule judgments made by the building inspector and grant specific types of special permits, including the comprehensive residential permits outlined by Chapter 40B of the state’s general law.

This week, the board will be discussing a large residential housing development application through Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B at 455 Totten Pond Road that has been in front of the board since March. 

The project has encountered some resistance from the ZBA, whose members have said it doesn’t provide sufficient affordability. At the project’s last meeting, its developer requested permission to add an additional 25 units to the proposed building to help cover infrastructure mitigation costs it anticipates from the city.

The board will meet at the Clark Government Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Community Preservation Commission

Waltham’s CPC is charged with implementing the requirements of the Community Preservation Act. The commission is composed of four at-large residents of Waltham as well as representatives of five other city administrative bodies: the Board of Survey and Planning, the Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, the Housing Authority and the Parks–Recreation Board.

Among other duties, the commission reviews applications to use CPA funding to renovate properties that serve historic, recreational or community housing functions. 

This week it will discuss a new funding request to restore the exterior and first floor of the historic Wellington House. It will also vote on allocating incoming CPA funding for the new year.

The CPC will meet over Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Details for joining the Zoom meeting are provided in its agenda. 

Board of Health

The Board of Health works to address potential public health problems in the city, including communicable diseases, foodborne illnesses and housing and environmental safety.

The board will meet at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19, in the auditorium of the Clark Government Center.

License Commission

The License Commission grants and reviews permits for serving food and alcohol, for entertainment and for some types of gaming machines across the city.

This week the commission will be approving dates for its next year of meetings, reviewing license renewal applications for 2026 and deliberating on some one-day food and alcohol permits.

The commission will meet on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the public meeting room of the Clark Government Center at 119 School St. Its agenda will be posted on the Licensing Department page of the city’s website by Monday.

School Committee

The Waltham School Committee is an elected six-member committee chaired by Mayor McCarthy that makes policy and oversight decisions for the Waltham School District Board.

This week, among other items of business, the School Committee will discuss school improvement plans for Kennedy Middle, Plympton Elementary and Northeast Elementary Schools. It will also review a preliminarily approved policy about career and technical education admission procedures and exploration tools for middle school students.

The committee will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, in the James J. Cannon Lecture Hall of the old high school at 617 Lexington St.

Traffic Commission

The Traffic Commission meets monthly to discuss matters before the Traffic Engineering Department about improving the streets and infrastructure of the city.

This week, in addition to the Lowell Street improvements, it also plans to discuss next summer’s RiverBeat and Steampunk festivals; a proposal for a speed study on Lakeview Avenue; a proposed “No Engine Braking” sign on Trapelo Road; a traffic assessment of the impact of the Watch Factory lofts development; a number of previously discussed traffic proposals; and Traffic Engineer J. Michael Garvin’s proposals for how to implement the results of the West End Traffic Study, which Ward 7 Councilor Paul S. Katz requested last month.

The Traffic Commission will meet Thursday, Nov. 20, at 10 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

Conservation Commission

The Conservation Commission is a volunteer board charged with overseeing environmental planning in Waltham. The commission reviews certain types of construction on or around wetlands to ensure they comply with the Wetlands Protection Act and the Department of Environmental Protection stormwater standards.

It will hold a meeting over Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday. A link for the meeting will be provided on the commission’s page on the city website at least 48 hours in advance.