Treacherous Franklin Street Stretch Could See A Slowdown

MELROSE, MA — "Franklin Franklin Franklin Street, what are we going to do with Franklin Street?"

Franklin Street resident and Ward 1 City Councilor John Tramontozzi's musing captured the gist of Wednesday night's discussion on potential traffic-calming measures on one of the city's major connectors in and out of Stoneham.

In one of the city's first in-person meetings since the state of emergency was lifted Tuesday, the Traffic Commission took up what for it is an unusual matter, a "request by [a] resident for speed bumps on the eastbound lane of Franklin between Garden and Vinton to slow down drivers."

The speed bumps would be an effort to slow drivers speeding down Franklin from Stoneham right before they get into a popular, densely populated stretch of Melrose. The Traffic Commission usually doesn't hear such traffic infrastructure requests — the Melrose Ped-Bike Committee says it's is the first time since 2017 that such a request has made it before the committee — but chair and DPW Director Elena Proakis Ellis thought it beneficial to have an open discussion.

Traffic-calming efforts on the road saw overwhelming public support from the few who spoke at the meeting and the many letters submitted beforehand. (The Ped-Bike Committee's thoughts on the matter can be read here.)

There was also a clear desire from the commission to see some sort of change in the area. Speed tables — a long, flat elevation — were among the traffic-calming measures discussed.

The Traffic Commission will take up the topic at its next meeting in September.

The area sees about 10,000 vehicles a day. Proakis Ellis said the crash history at the Franklin and Vinton streets intersection is "fairly substantial." One 12-month period had 10 crashes.

The area around Franklin and Vinton intersection is where a young woman lost her life in a fiery crash driving westbound into Stoneham in January.

Jeff Winey, a longtime Franklin Street resident, recounted several crashes he's seen on the road.

"I love my house, I love my neighbors, I love the City of Melrose," he said. "But I hate Franklin Street."

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.