Take the Concept Options Poll!

At the Community Meeting on August 30, 2023, the project team introduced two different concept options for a redesigned Tufts Street.

The first option, named Mid-Block Moments, describes a street with a succession of two or more pinch points - areas where the road narrows to only let one car through - distributed along the street. The street would remain fairly straight but the pinch points discourage speeding and allow for moments to experience wider sidewalks and shorter and safer crossings. A typical layout of the street would be sidewalks approximately 10.5 feet in width (with 14 feet sidewalks at the pinch point), and vehicle lane widths of 9.5 feet in both directions (except at 12 feet at the pinch points). To further slow down speeds and reduce traffic volumes, we would propose adding a few speed humps between the pinch points.

The second option, named Meandering Opportunities, describes a meandering narrow street that allows us to maximize sidewalks widths and explore more open space opportunities. A typical layout of the street would have a road width of 12 feet. This creates a yield condition where cars would have to wait in dedicated pull-over areas for an oncoming car to pass. A yield street encourages cars to slow down and lowers traffic volumes. It also allows us to explore opportunities to create open spaces on sidewalks as wide as 19 feet in a few areas distributed along Tufts Street.

Take our quick poll to share your initial feedback on these two concept options!