Modern Roundabout on Comm Ave & Auburn St One Step Closer

The construction of a new, modern roundabout on Commonwealth Avenue at Auburn Street is one step closer to reality after the Public Facilities Committee approved it on Jan. 21.

The roundabout is one portion of a larger project which will rehabilitate the Route 30 bridge over the Charles River and over the MassPike between Weston and Newton, which is unsafe, according to MassDOT.

This is part of Newton’s vision to create new open space, parkland, a continuous east/west bike lane into Weston, and integrate the neighborhood on the south side of Commonwealth Avenue with DCR’s boathouse, Norumbega Park and other recreational activities on the north side, explained Transportation Planning Director Nicole Freedman.

The project was first proposed to the city by Herb Nolan of the Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation in 2018 and introduced to residents in early 2019.

Design consultants Howard Stein Hudson (HSH) initially offered three designs for the intersection, but eliminated them because they had various problems including overly long crosswalks that were unsafe and would have required pedestrians to cross up to six lanes of traffic.

Instead, MassDOT offered the fourth option, called the “Modern Mixed-lane Roundabout.”

At Jan. 14 public Zoom meeting, MassDOT’s required 25% design public meeting, Director Nicole Freedman explained that modern roundabouts are often confused with rotaries. A modern roundabout is much smaller; has a center median; generally has a truck apron for large vehicles; and driver speeds average 20-25 mph.

Attendees at the Jan. 14 public Zoom meeting included representatives of advocacy groups such as Safe Routes to Schools and BikeNewton, and city councilors.

The use of roundabouts has steadily increased since 2000, according to Freedman, and Massachusetts has 57 examples of modern roundabouts.

Residents and city councilors alike wanted to know how bicyclists would get around the circle. HSH consultant Matt Jasmin explained that a bicyclist could choose to either ride around the circle or use the pedestrian crossing. He also explained that HSH would conduct a study and make crosswalk timing recommendations, to avoid traffic backups.

Most residents in attendance favored the project and many had questions concerned entering Oakland Avenue from the east.

Freedman and Jason Sobel, the city’s director of transportation, explained that these questions would be forwarded to MassDOT, so they could find solutions, and share these solutions with the Public Facilities Committee before the “75% design” public meeting, the date yet determined, and before construction begins.

Participants of the Jan. 14st public meeting were glad to hear the consultant state that money was not an issue, since MassDOT was paying for construction costs. However, Newton will be paying for $390,000 in engineering and design costs, according to Newton’s Planning Dept.

According to consultant Jasmin, MassDOT’s only concerns were “How well does it function? Is it safe? And does it meet the city’s and state’s needs?”

The following week, at the Public Facilities Committee’s Jan. 20 meeting, chaired by Councilor Susan Albright, the next step took place, when councilors approved of the roundabout option. The vote of approval allows the entire project, from the Weston side of the MassPike Bridge to Newton’s Lyons Field, to proceed.

MassDOT repeated that they will further update the Public Facilities Committee at the future 75% design public meeting.

For more information, visit the City of Newton’s Transportation Planning website: https://www.newtonma.gov/government/planning/transportation-planning/projects/commonwealth-avenue-carriageway-redesign.

https://www.newtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument?id=49847.

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