Reimagining Broadway - Transportation

Reimagining Broadway Banner

OVERVIEW

The City is seeking millions in federal funds to re-construct Broadway to help move people better throughout the corridor. The goals of the Reimagining Broadway - Transportation project are to understand the current state of the roadway, residents' concerns and ideas for improvements, and to develop a conceptual design for the corridor.

The purpose is to develop a community-based roadway project that can be submitted for consideration on the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Improvement Program, which awards federal funds to construct major transportation projects in the region.

COMPLETED WORK

The City's consultant has completed an existing conditions analysis of the Broadway corridor. This included a topographical survey, an inventory and assessment of existing drainage & sanitary sewer structures, pavement probes, and traffic counts. This information is critical towards understanding what reconstruction work is necessary to improve the roadway. It will also help inform the work of the City's Engineering Department for future utility projects that take place along Broadway.

The team has also started analyzing traffic counts to determine feasible conceptual designs for the roadway. For example, an overarching comment made by residents is that they would like the corridor to be more pedestrian-friendly. Reducing or narrowing vehicle lanes is a proven way to calm vehicle traffic and make a roadway more comfortable for pedestrians. The analyses conducted will determine what roadway reconfigurations are feasible before presenting them to the community.

On September 28th, the City hosted its first community meeting where residents had the opportunity to share their concerns, ideas for improvements, and overall transportation vision for the corridor. Information shared in this meeting helped inform the conceptual designs presented at the following community meeting on October 26th.

With the community engagement portion of the project complete, the City is now revising its conceptual renderings for the corridor. The next step is to integrate resident feedback into a new design that can be submitted for consideration on the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Improvement Program, which awards federal funds to construct major transportation projects in the region. Updated concept designs will be shared here once they are finalized. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

This project will re-design the corridor in a way that addresses residents’ concerns and supports businesses. To that end, the City hosted two virtual community meetings. We advertised this event by sending a project flyer to all addresses within 300ft of the corridor, posting on the City's social media, and reaching out to community groups and city councilors. 

At the first virtual community meeting on Wednesday, September 28th from 6pm to 7:30pm, residents learned about the current state of the roadway, shared what concerns they have, and indicated their desired improvements. Based on this feedback, the City developed several conceptual renderings showing potential re-designs of the roadway. These were presented for further feedback at the following virtual meeting on Wednesday, October 26th from 6pm to 7:30pm. Meeting materials for both of these events are included below. If you'd like to provide feedback after reviewing the presentation recordings or materials, you can contact John Alessi, Transportation Planner at jalessi@cityofmalden.org or 781-324-5720 EXT 5740. 

Broadway Meeting Screenshot

Community Meeting #1 - September 28, 2023

Community Meeting #2 - October 26, 2023

FUNDING BACKGROUND

OSPCD received a $200,000 Transportation Planning Grant from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in 2021 to conduct survey, pavement and subsurface investigation, drainage assessment, traffic analysis, conceptual layout, cost estimating, and funding application assistance services for the Broadway corridor from the Everett City Line to Melrose City Line in the City of Malden. This work builds off the findings of the Broadway Corridor Framework Plan, which was completed in Fall 2020.

The City of Malden entered into a contract with BSC Group, Inc. for this project in September 2021 and the project kicked off in November 2021. Please note that this project is separate from the Broadway Corridor Land Use and Zoning Study. The two projects overlap because transportation and zoning are inherently related, so findings from both studies will inform the other.