Weston Select Board Approves Route 20 and Highland Street Safety Redesign

WESTON — July 31, 2023 — Weston Select Board unanimously backs a signalized redesign of the dangerous Route 20 and Highland Street intersection. The board voted 3-0 at its July 31 meeting to advance Alternative 2A — a conventional four-way signal modeled on the Route 20 and Wellesley Street project already in the state pipeline — to the 25-percent design stage, following a unanimous recommendation from the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee. Town Engineer Jason Lavoie and committee chair Jay Doyle presented crash data showing 50 angle collisions, 14 rear-end crashes, and three head-on accidents at the intersection, which MassDOT independently flagged as a high-risk location during a 2018-to-2020 study period. Town Manager Leon Gaumont put the project cost in "the single millions, like maybe a couple million bucks," and floated the idea of municipal self-funding to shave five to ten years off a timeline that could otherwise stretch well past a decade under the federal TIP process. The board also voted unanimously to respond to a Massachusetts Attorney General complaint from resident Isabella Janquartz alleging delinquent posting of meeting minutes, with members pushing back on any implication the delays were intentional given that video of every meeting is posted publicly within 24 hours.