Background

The Town of Concord is in the process of developing a Complete Streets Program to improve our transportation network for all modes by safely connecting home, work, school, shopping, dining, recreation and more. In July 2018,  the Concord Select Board adopted a Complete Streets Policy which was subsequently approved by the MassDOT  as part of the “Tier 1” requirements.  

By incorporating these Complete Streets guiding principles, Concord will advance its efforts to create a transportation network that provides safety and accessibility for all users of our roadways, trails, and transit systems, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, freight and commercial vehicles, and emergency vehicles. Concord recognizes that Complete Streets can increase everyday physical activity by enabling additional walking and bicycling by its residents and visitors. The Town’s Complete Streets Policy will be applied in decision-making for related infrastructure planning and construction.

Prioritization Plan

In order to qualify for State grant funding to assist in the implementation of our Complete Streets goals,  Concord  was required to complete a Prioritization Plan, identifying the top ranked projects recommended for construction. This is known as the “Tier 2” phase.

Possible projects to include on the list were identified after soliciting public input which included::

• A public workshop was held on July 24, 2019.
• One week prior, and one week following the public workshop, an interactive WikiMap was posted on the Town’s website where residents, businesses and institutions could log and comment on various transportation issues in Concord.
• Public input was solicited by Town staff at the West Concord Open House held at the Harvey Wheeler Center.
• Information was proactively solicited from local cycling groups who provided a list of their highest priority concerns.
• CPW’s Engineering and Planning Divisions compiled a list of project suggestions based on  requests collected over the last several  year.
• Project Consultant, Jacobs Engineering, compiled and analyzed data from a variety of sources to identify “network gaps,” where the Town has insufficient infrastructure to allow people to walk or bike safely to destinations.
• After considering all possible projects from these varied sources, Jacobs Engineering  created a list of 52 projects for the Town’s Complete Streets Working Group to consider. The Working Group then reviewed the list of 52 projects and narrowed it down to 26 to be considered by MassDOT for acceptance during the  5 year planning time horizon.  Those 26 projects were then ranked based on factors, such as connectivity to schools and public buildings, to produce a proposed list of projects to then be evaluated to develop more detailed cost estimates.

Based on all of this information, Concord completed its draft Prioritization Plan, which can be found by clicking on the link below. This plan was presented at a Public meeting of the Public Works Commission on September 11, 2019 and submitted  to Mass DOT for approval. 

Current Status

Click here for current project status : https://concordma.gov/2792/Complete-Streets

 Related Documents:

Draft Prioritization Plan

Complete Streets Policy 

Presentation Shown at Public Workshop held on July 24, 2019

Town Contact:

Justin Richardson, PE, Assistant Town Engineer, Concord Public Works – Engineering Division, 978-318-3210, Jrichardson@concordma.gov

Updated 6/7/22