Route 9/Parker Street interchange under study

Traffic engineers for the city and for New England Development (the proponents of the proposed Chestnut Hill Square) are studying a number of traffic issues related to the changes that will come with Chestnut Hill Square, including increased volume of traffic on Route 9.

Among the areas of study is the Route 9/Parker Street interchange.

Any change to the interchange should have the following goals, in this order of priority:

• Ensure pedestrian safety in the interchange
• Make it comfortable for pedestrians to cross over Route 9 on Parker Street
• Not cause cut-through traffic on nearby side streets
• Not cause crosswalks or side streets to be blocked by traffic backed up on Parker Street
• Not materially degrade traffic on Parker Street
• Improve traffic flow on, to, and from Route 9

I have recently updated the wiki page for the interchange. The page has a description of the problem, the goals (those just listed), and a discussion of some proposed solutions.

Please give me your feedback (by e-mail, in the comments, or on the wiki). I'll continue to update the page based on that feedback and on other developments.