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Wednesday, November 4, 2026 Watertown, Massachusetts · Change town
Government · Traffic Commission

Traffic Commission denies beacon, new stop sign

The Watertown Traffic Commission voted against a pedestrian beacon at School and Maplewood streets and an all-way stop at Bradshaw and Westminster streets.

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Traffic Commission · Meeting of April 29, 2026

WATERTOWN — The Watertown Traffic Commission voted against a pedestrian beacon at School and Maplewood streets and an all-way stop at Bradshaw and Westminster streets. Resident Ralph Mealy asked the commission to remove the four-way stop signs installed at School and Maplewood in 2024, saying they have made it "just not safe" to exit driveways during peak traffic. A commission member said a study by McMahon and Associates found the intersection did not meet warrants for a traffic signal, and federal guidance bars pairing a beacon with an all-way stop due to "sign pollution." Separately, John Byrne of 41 Bradshaw Street presented maps and photos showing a 58-degree intersection angle he says limits sight lines, following an April 2 crash; the commission denied his stop sign request pending further engineering review of crash data.

In the full story:

  • The Full Story
  • Why It Matters
  • Key Motions & Votes
  • Source
  • Watertown's community access TV: Traffic Commission meeting, April 29, 2026
  • The complete report: 866 words

Source: the Traffic Commission meeting of April 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.

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