Roadway Construction Slated for Heights Neighborhood

August 18, 2025
• As Needham Public Works considers changes to a residential intersection — namely to reduce speeding and improve snow plow accessibility, officials said — the Select Board and nearby residents offered feedback at a Tuesday meeting.

The four-way intersection at Hoover Road, Tower Avenue and Paul Revere Road poses challenges for sidewalk snow plowing, DPW Director Carys Lustig said. The sidewalk on the eastern side of Tower Avenue ends before the intersection, causing the plow operator to drive into the roadway and cross the intersection. The proposed plans would shorten the distance the operator would spend crossing the street.

There have also been reports of speeding, Lustig added.

“It sounds like it comes primarily from those going uphill. They’re sort of gaining momentum when they hit the top of the hill, and then they don’t screech to a halt,” she said of the drivers at the intersection.

By adding sidewalks, changing right-of-way and making curb cuts, the proposal aims to both calm traffic and reduce impervious areas, which are surfaces that do not absorb water, such as pavement, Lustig explained. Under the current proposal, the DPW would elevate the sidewalk, which would encourage water to flow downstream into drains.

Cones at the intersection now delineate where and how the roads’ width would be reduced.

“The pilot layout currently in place appears a little more cramped than it actually is due to the tall cones,” Tyler Gabrielski, director of streets and transportation, wrote in an email. “However if the new configuration makes traffic slow down to navigate it, then the design is functioning as intended.”

Two neighbors who spoke during public comment strongly objected to the plan. Debbie Bryson, a Hoover Road resident, expressed safety concerns in the area — “I personally was nearly clipped by a Fed-Ex truck,” she said — but said that shrinking the street width would put pedestrians in “grave danger.”

At the meeting, Lustig said the DPW looks to “rightsize” the town’s roads, depending on the traffic through the area. The widest road in the intersection, Tower Avenue’s north side, would be reduced in width from 51 feet to 25 feet, according to the DPW. The current measurements were taken “across the ‘funnel’ where the streets narrow from the corners,” Gabrielski shared in an email.

The next widest road is Paul Revere Road at 48 feet, which would be reduced to 26 feet. Tower Avenue’s south side and Hoover Road would go from 29 feet and 37.5 feet wide, respectively, to 24 feet wide, according to the DPW.

Needham’s two-way streets are typically 12 feet wide per travel lane, or 24 feet wide for two-lane roads, Gabrielski wrote in an email. Following community feedback, he stated the plan would be slightly altered to widen street openings.

Another abutter, identified as John Kalin, said town staff have failed to collaborate with the neighbors on a plan best suited for them. He called the design a “flawed engineering plan” and suggested the town implement stop signs instead of the more significant changes to the landscape.

Gabrielski said “stop signs alone… are not to be used for speed control,” according to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The DPW does plan to add a stop sign on Paul Revere Road, he said.

“[Based on] research and industry standard, we know that the best way to calm traffic is through changes to the built environment, including a curb line,” he said at the meeting. “So signage is an accessory tool in our toolbox, but it is not a primary tool in our toolbox.”

The construction was initially slated for last summer, but other roadwork delayed the project. A previous iteration called for a roundabout, one of six possible designs, which was eliminated when the DPW narrowed in on two options.

DPW met with neighbors in June to present the two plans, then selected and modified the current one. Select Board member Marianne Cooley suggested they reach out after the project is completed to seek additional feedback. Gabrielski stated via email that the Highway Division would connect with “immediate abutters” to plan for the new berm area proposed.

Another abutter, Paul Smith, said DPW took feedback from residents to inform their proposal, contrary to what his neighbors said.

“I think most people up there are dying for a change,” he said, “because it’s not a stop sign. You can’t put a stop sign in a giant circle.”

Cooley said she walks the intersection frequently and has been “almost taken out by a car twice.” She walks in the middle of the road to ensure approaching drivers spot her, she added.

“I think this has the potential to be a significant improvement in safety for children who are walking from there. Certainly, my son walked through that intersection every day on his way to Mitchell [Elementary], along with all the other kids who gathered walking up Tower to head down to Mitchell,” she said. “So I think it’s a big plus for the neighborhood, frankly, overall.”

Other board members signaled support for the changes, including Kevin Keane, who also lives near the intersection he called “a prairie of asphalt.” He said the changes are “a good proactive measure” to prevent accidents. Since July 2015, Needham Police have logged two one-vehicle crashes by the intersection — one in 2018 on Paul Revere Road and another in 2022 near where Hoover Road meets Tower Avenue.

Gabrielski said they would break ground next month.

Public Works also shared plans to update the striping along Great Plain Avenue from Harris Avenue to the Dedham town line, adding a bike lane on the north side and reducing the travel lane width to 10-11 feet. This effort and the work at the Heights intersection are part of the town’s Complete Streets program, which works to provide accessibility for diverse modes of travel.