No temporary Highland Ave repaving; full rebuild in five-year plan

Items Discussed

Highland Avenue temporary paving update – Marked work completed

Chair Sait submitted this item asking Engineering and DPW for an update on temporary paving of Highland Avenue, noting the issue "is brought up constantly" by constituents. Engineering Director Brian Postlewaite said the city has no plans for temporary paving beyond the partial paving done after the Spring Hill project. Instead, Highland Avenue is expected to be included in the forthcoming five-year paving plan for full reconstruction, though the specific year is undecided and the plan may be published with "an ambiguous year" because the city is still coordinating with gas and electric utilities that need to do work under both Highland and Broadway.

Postlewaite explained the trade-off: temporary partial paving of the remaining stretch of Highland would cost roughly $2 to $3 million, money "that we don't get back" once the street is reconstructed. He said the city's analysis found two segments of Broadway (between the Magoun section under construction and the recently completed West Broadway section) in slightly more urgent need than Highland, though "the differences are not large" and the intent is to do all of them within five years.

DPW Commissioner Eric Weisman offered some good news: for the first time in recent memory, the Streets and Sidewalks division is doing small-scale mill-and-overlay work using a two-foot-wide grinder to smooth the roughest sections rather than filling "potholes over potholes." He said work was planned on Highland near Benton Road the next day, and emphasized this is an additional tool—the pothole patrol will continue.

Councilor Wheeler asked where the line between pothole repair and repaving blurs, citing Thurston Street and Highland between Cedar and Davis. Postlewaite said Thurston is in this year's paving contract following advocacy by Councilor Clingan; it was delayed two years so a gas line could be replaced first. Councilor Mbah asked who monitors road conditions; Postlewaite said the city is in a three-year cycle of assessing roadway and sidewalk conditions by thirds, having just finished the western third.

Traffic flows and enforcement around schools citywide – Marked work completed

Councilor Mbah submitted this order after witnessing two cars driving in opposite directions on a one-way-during-school-hours street with children crossing. He asked that Mobility, Engineering, Parking, and the Police Chief appear together.

Transportation and Infrastructure Director Brad Rawson framed the city's approach: a standing monthly Safe Routes to School coordination meeting involving these departments plus Somerville Public Schools, HHS, and others. The group reviews traffic calming, crossing guard deployments, curb regulations near schools, time-limited one-way restrictions, construction near schools, parent flyers, and data collection. He noted the group has handled "abnormal times" including the Winter Hill school relocation and the West Somerville displacement.

Postlewaite said Engineering delivers physical projects (raised crossings, signal changes) and negotiates construction permits to limit work during pickup and drop-off, but "people are people" and infrastructure "can't solve every problem." Parking Director Suzanne Rinfret said parking control officers are posted at most schools to keep traffic moving, and the city relaxes resident permit parking and street cleaning near schools until 8:45 a.m. so parents can park a block away. She said one officer's foot was run over by a frustrated parent last year, and that early September "is a mess every single year" before settling down.

Police Chief Shumeane Benford said crossing guards are hard to hire and retain given the hours, officers are deployed at schools at the start of the year and after snowstorms, and the traffic unit handles targeted enforcement. He cautioned that "the need's always greater than the resources" and officers assigned to a school get pulled for 911 calls. Lieutenant Michael Holland said enforcement is largely complaint-driven and the department doesn't have enough officers to cover 12 to 14 schools at every arrival and dismissal; often an officer's presence alone changes behavior. DPW's Weisman said his department keeps street sweepers and trash haulers clear of school areas during pickup/drop-off and prioritizes snow clearing at school entrances.

Key questions and concerns:

• Mbah asked whether staffing is adequate and enforcement consistent across school zones; staff were candid that it is complaint- and partnership-driven rather than blanket coverage.
• Wheeler raised Broadway at McGrath and at Autumn/Garfield as trouble spots reported by parents and school committee members. Benford said McGrath is a state road where DCR is responsible for crossing guards, repeated city requests have not been effective, and an informal count by the crossing guard supervisor found mostly adults crossing there. Holland said Safe Routes maps direct students via the Pearl Street crossing, and Rawson confirmed no guard is deployed at Broadway/Autumn, pointing to an interactive crossing guard map on the SPS website and signage directing people to the Otis Street footbridge and Gilman Street underpass.
• Wheeler asked about construction tie-ups like those near the Healey School last November; Postlewaite said traffic management plans were adjusted there, but shortening construction hours lengthens total duration—"the intensity of the pain or the duration of the pain."
• Chair Sait raised contractors not following traffic management plans, especially when occupying sidewalks. Postlewaite acknowledged "there's not a protocol" for catching every violation and the city relies on 311 and on other departments flagging problems.

Sait asked that the Safe Routes group encourage SPS to include short, translated reminders about drop-off options and traffic realities in school newsletters, citing success at the Kennedy School.

Lower-cost parking permit for residents with driveways – Marked work completed

Councilor Wheeler's order asked the Parking Director to discuss a cheaper permit for driveway owners that would allow daytime/evening but not overnight street parking and would be invalid during street cleaning and snow emergencies. He said the idea came from Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets and the 2022 curb space study, with the goal of pricing permits proportionally to need and freeing curb space for seniors, people with disabilities, and housing. A companion memo from the Parking Director was also on the agenda.

Director Rinfret opposed the idea. She said verifying driveway access is administratively burdensome, especially for renters whose landlords charge separately for driveway spaces, and that the parking study actually recommended charging driveway owners more, not less. She said overnight enforcement is already minimal—28 officers across three shifts, with a "skeleton crew" from midnight to 8 a.m. focused on safety violations—and that two permit types would slow officers who currently verify permits visually. She also noted guest permit abuse and said "Overnight's not... the hugest problem," arguing the city's goal is to change behavior and reduce car ownership.

Wheeler pressed a "minimal version": same permit with a dot indicating daytime-only, accepting little overnight enforcement and relying on voluntary compliance. Rinfret responded that residents would expect enforcement and asked, "What kind of message is that?" Councilor Mbah commented that he doesn't envy her job. Chair Sait concluded the idea might be worth exploring "one day when we're in better financial position." Both items were marked work completed.

Kennedy School safety items (bike markings, bike racks, Cherry Street signage) – Marked work completed

Chair Sait submitted three September orders tied to the Elm-Beacon Connector project and Kennedy schoolyard construction, which overlapped with the start of school. Rawson reported all are addressed:

• Bike stencils and all pavement markings on Elm Street are complete; eastbound flex posts had been delayed by supply-chain issues with the narrower post type.
• Pickup/drop-off signage on Cherry Street is installed (5-minute passenger, 20-minute commercial loading), with Parking Department crews doing much of the installation.
• The Kennedy has more than 30 bike parking spaces—the most of any K-8 school in Somerville—but demand still exceeds supply; a summer assessment covered all schools, and staff are developing a 2027 procurement and installation plan.

Minutes – Accepted

Minutes of the October 5 and October 14, 2026 meetings were approved by roll call with no corrections.

What's Next

• All substantive items (driveway permit discussion and memo, school traffic review, three Kennedy School items, and Highland Ave update) were recommended to be marked work completed; no items were held in committee.
• Engineering expects to release the five-year paving plan with Highland Avenue included, pending utility coordination; Postlewaite offered to brief councilors on where specific streets rank.
• Mobility will update Chair Sait and the Kennedy community on additional bike parking sites and numbers as spring 2027 approaches.
• Chair Sait asked the Safe Routes to School group to continue working on contractor traffic-plan enforcement and to have SPS send parents regular drop-off/pickup reminders.
• Lieutenant Holland said he would need to check whether any crossing guard coverage exists near Broadway and Autumn/Garfield.