Needham officials on the Mobility Planning and Coordination Committee and allied transportation committees on a November 2025 joint call urged short-term pedestrian safety improvements in the downtown as longer projects advance.

At the meeting Chair Tim Bulger said the committee is finalizing a street design guide and wants it to improve transparency about how roadway infrastructure is planned. “That design guide…is really gonna help to kind of establish clear, consistent design features based on context,” Bulger said.

Committee members and public-works staff pressed for immediate changes at problem crossings in the center of town. Rebecca (Rail Trail/committee member) described seeing small children at crosswalks she called “so unsafe,” and urged quick actions beyond temporary Jersey barriers. “We cannot afford to wait another 5, 10 years,” she said, arguing short-term improvements could build public support for bigger projects.

DPW staff outlined tools and trade-offs for near-term work: a traffic-data platform using vehicle telematics and short-term speed counters to identify hotspot times and locations, plus engineering options such as raised crosswalks, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) and quick-build striping. The staff noted that raised crosswalks “have been successful” at slowing vehicles at specific crossing points but do not always reduce corridor-wide speeds.

Members said a coordinated push from the mobility, traffic safety and rail-trail committees could support a recommendation to the Select Board to advance quick-build improvements; Chair Bulger noted there is a federal grant for quick-build work but that it is currently paused. The committee agreed members would bring the idea back to their respective committees for formal support.

The meeting also covered public-engagement approaches for street projects. Members recommended tiered outreach—low, medium and high—matched to project impact, and stressed that engagement should be two-way: “Engagement is actually getting feedback and input and making changes to a plan to accommodate other voices,” a Select Board–aligned participant said.

Procedural business: the committee approved the minutes on a roll-call vote (motion by James Goldstein, second by Gus Dreesen) and agreed to defer a planned chair-rotation decision to the next meeting.

Next steps: committees will consider a joint letter or recommendation to the Select Board on quick-build downtown safety fixes, finalize details for the street design guide public forum in early December, and return to members’ home committees with potential short-term interventions for review.