Over the past few years, Lexington has made real progress on Bikeway safety. American Rescue Plan Act funds paid for Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at five bikeway-road crossings, and Fair Share Act funds are now being considered for two more at Bow Street and Fottler Avenue. These push-button beacons give drivers a clear signal that someone is about to cross. They work, and residents who use the Bikeway every day have noticed the difference.

Once Bow Street and Fottler Avenue are done, the most dangerous bikeway crossing in Lexington will still be without a beacon: Hancock Street.

That should not be. Hancock Street was the Bicycle Advisory Committee’s top priority when beacon funding first became available. A 2014 Toole Design study ranked it the third most challenging crossing on the entire Minuteman Bikeway, including Arlington and Bedford. The two crossings ranked ahead of it, both in Arlington, have since been improved with signals. That leaves Hancock Street as effectively the most challenging crossing remaining on the whole corridor. Traffic moves quickly, sight lines are limited, and after dark the crossing is poorly lit. Because it sits next to Lexington Center, it carries a steady stream of walkers, cyclists, and children.

In 2024, the Select Board voted 4-1 to hold off on a beacon here until construction at the intersection was finished. That work is now done, and there is no reason to wait.

On October 30, the Bicycle Advisory Committee submitted an application to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for a beacon at Hancock Street. The Town’s engineering staff estimate a one-time cost of no more than $50,000. That figure includes landscape screening to limit the impact on nearby homes. If the CPC recommends it, the request will go to Town Meeting this spring.

Lexington has already protected crossings that are far less dangerous than this one. We should not wait for someone to be hurt before finishing the job at the most dangerous one.

If you walk, bike, or drive through this crossing, please write to the Select Board and your Town Meeting members. Ask them to support the Community Preservation Act request and to make sure the most dangerous crossing on the Bikeway is not the one left behind. Then come to the CPC hearing and to Town Meeting to say so in person.

Jeremy Levitan
Town Meeting Member, Precinct 6

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