Staff Report
The city council is expected to get an update on regional and local infrastructure improvements on Route 16 at Winthrop Avenue and Harris Street at a meeting later this month.
The Department of Planning and Community Development plans on making a presentation on the improvements, which are estimated to remove 1500 cars a day cutting through traffic from Harris Street, improve intersection operations, and enhance pedestrian safety and connectivity.
The meeting will focus on the roadway improvements, future traffic operations and the partial one-way conversion of Harris Street, all of which are planned to go live in December, according to the community development department.
The changes at Route 16 include Harris Street becoming a one-way street from Winthrop Avenue to Sewall Street. In addition, two left turn lanes will be added to Revere Beach Parkway (Route 16) southbound, and a right turn slip lane from Route 16 southbound to Harris Street will be added.
Harris Street will remain a two-way road past Sewall Street, and Sewall Street will remain a two-way road with parking prohibited between Harris Street and Bixby Street.
The new intersection design was developed, in part, during many neighborhood meetings over the past few years, according to city officials. They stated that the design is being implemented with the goals of removing an estimated 1500 cars a day in cut-through traffic from Harris Street, improving intersection operations and safety, and enhancing pedestrian safety and connectivity.
Once the work is complete, neighborhood traffic looking to go east via Winthrop Avenue will exit via Sewall Street and Elm Street or Beach Avenue to Route 16 via new left turn lanes. Neighborhood traffic looking to get onto Route 16 will enter via Bell Circle via Beach Street.
Regional traffic going southbound on Route 16 will no longer cut through Harris Street to turn onto Winthrop Avenue, instead, there will be two dedicated left turn lanes on Route 16 at the intersection to accommodate this regional connection to East Revere and Winthrop.
