On Wednesday, October 9th at 6:30pm at Memorial Hall Library (2 N Main St, Andover, MA 01810), the Town of Andover will be holding a public meeting to discuss potential geometric changes to the Elm Square intersection in order to further improve safety for people on foot and bicycle.

TEC, the town's contracted engineering firm will be presenting and discussing several potential design alternatives for a future full reconstruction project of the intersection. Walk Bike Andover supports the design options that fully remove the slip right turn lanes, as these "channelized" turn lanes have been shown to be fundamentally dangerous to pedestrians. The Town of Andover has both a Complete Streets policy as well as Vision Zero commitment to prioritize safe designs for our most vulnerable road users, in order to move towards zero serious injuries or deaths from crashes, but we feel that any design that retains the existing slip lanes does not fulfill this commitment.

This public meeting is YOUR CHANCE to voice your support for the removal of the slip lanes and for the prioritization of the safety of people on foot and bicycle in this intersection. If you cannot make the public meeting, you can still give feedback via email (elmsquresafety@andoverma.us), either now or following the meeting. After the meeting we will post an update with details on the specific design alternatives presented.

Thank you for your continued support in making Elm Square safe for all people, regardless of their chosen mode of transportation.