Walkers Brook Redesign Forum: January 14, 2026
(7-8 minute read)
For residents looking to stay up to date on key town matters, this recap highlights the major takeaways from the Walkers Brook Redesign Meeting held on Wednesday, January 14 2026.
Watch the full meeting here on RCTV’s Youtube page.
Review the Walkers Brook Redesign Project information here on the Town website.
Introduction
The public forum was held in the Community Rooms at the Reading Public Library and drew strong community interest. Due to technical difficulties at the outset, the meeting began approximately 15 minutes later than scheduled.
An estimated 60 residents attended either in person or online via Zoom. The presentation was led by Community Development Director Andrew MacNichol alongside project consultant Lisa Wong, who walked attendees through the history, goals, and potential design alternatives for the Walkers Brook Drive Corridor.
Image from the Town website outlining the scope of the Walkers Brook Redesign Project.
Key takeaways
The Walkers Brook Redesign Project is intended to improve safety and accessibility for all users - drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists - while strengthening connections between nearby neighborhoods, businesses, and recreational areas.
After reviewing multiple design concepts, consultants identified a shared-use path option as the preferred alternative based on safety, connectivity, and feasibility criteria.
The project remains in the planning and design phase, with construction still several years away and dependent on securing future state and federal funding.
Presentation overview [0:17:30]
The stated purpose of the Walkers Brook Redesign Project is to better accommodate all modes of transportation, including vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles. Project goals include reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips, improving safety at key intersections, and enhancing overall community connectivity.
MacNichol noted that the redesign aligns with the Town’s broader Eastern Gateway Initiatives, which aim to adopt local policies and practices that encourage compact development and mixed-use projects in transit-accessible areas.
Project timeline
Town staff outlines a multi-year timeline that dates back to 2018, when a peer review of the corridor was conducted when construction began on the Lakeview Eaton housing development to identify potential improvements. In 2019, the Town began a comprehensive corridor analysis that produced conceptual redesign alternatives; that work was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic and ultimately completed in 2021.
In 2023, Reading secured a $250,000 Housing Choice Program grant to further refine conceptual designs and engage the public through meetings and an online survey. Most recently, in 2025, the Town was awarded a $500,000 MassWorks Infrastructure grant to advance the preferred alternative to near-construction-ready plans and coordinate with affected property owners and businesses.
According to the presentation, the top priority identified throughout the planning process has been safer intersections. The three most frequently cited improvements for pedestrians were traffic signals, sidewalks, and safer street crossings.
Design alternatives
Consultants presented three primary design alternatives for Walkers Brook Drive:
Alternative 1: On-road buffered bike lanes
This option includes 5-ft bike lanes with a 3-ft painted buffer, 6-ft sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, and no physical separation between cyclists and vehicle traffic.
Image from the Walkers Brook Drive Design Report - January 2026, Alternative 1 (on-road buffered bicycle lanes) section of road between New Crossing Road and Home Depot/Jordan’s Driveway.
Alternative 2: Shared-use path (preferred alternative)
The preferred option features a 10-ft shared-use path on the south side of the corridor, with a 5-ft landscaped buffer separating users from traffic, and an 8.5-ft sidewalk on the north side.
Image from the Walkers Brook Drive Design Report - January 2026, Alternative 2 (off-road shared use path) section of road between New Crossing Road and Home Depot/Jordan’s Driveway.
Alternative 3: Off-road two-way cycle track
This alternative proposes a 10-ft, two-way cycle track on the south side, with a landscaped buffer intended exclusively for bicyclists, along with sidewalks on both sides of the roadway.
Image from the Walkers Brook Drive Design Report - January 2026, Alternative 3 (off-road two-way cycle track) section of road between New Crossing Road and Home Depot/Jordan’s Driveway.
A central goal of all three alternatives is to improve connectivity to Lake Quannapowitt, particularly addressing the current gap in sidewalk infrastructure between Home Depot and the highway interchange.
The project team is still refining design details, including how pedestrians and cyclists would cross Walkers Brook Drive between the north and south sides. Consultants are also evaluating several options for the Walkers Brook Drive and General Way intersection, including signalized intersections, consolidated access points, and various roundabout configurations.
After evaluating each alternative using a matrix of safety, accessibility, constructability, and community impact criteria, the consultants identified Alternative 2 (the shared-use path) as the preferred design. The evaluation matrices are available in the Walkers Brook Drive Design Report - January 2026.
Community discussion [0:46:20]
During the public comment portion of the meeting, residents raised a range of questions and concerns.
One resident questioned whether significant infrastructure improvements were necessary, given that the current pedestrian and cyclist use of the area may not justify the road diet. In response, several residents from Lakeview, Eaton, Green, and Pleasant Street neighborhoods spoke in support of the project, noting that they would like to walk or bike to businesses along Walkers Brook Drive and to Lake Quannapowitt but feel unsafe doing so under existing conditions, particularly when traveling with small children.
Residents also expressed concern about cut-through traffic, with some urging the Town to discourage drivers from exiting I-95 between interchanges to bypass congestion and instead remain on the highway.
Discussion around intersection design drew mixed reactions. While some residents expressed skepticism about roundabouts and questioned whether they are safer for pedestrians than signalized intersections, Town staff noted that signalized intersections are generally preferred for pedestrian safety. Staff added that while roundabouts can include signalized crossings, those signals often have a greater impact on vehicle traffic flow than traditional signalized intersections.
Several abutters raised concerns about potential changes to the intersections of John Street, Lakeview Avenue, and Walkers Brook Drive. In particular, residents noted that the existing right-turn-only restriction at the General Way intersection was intentionally designed to limit traffic in nearby residential neighborhoods, while others pointed to unsafe left-turning by motorists near Salem Five Bank.
When asked about cost, Town staff cited a 2024 estimate projecting total project costs of $4-5 million, with an anticipated 10 percent local match required from the Town.
Assistant Town Manager Jayne Wellman emphasized that, although construction may still be approximately seven years away, Reading is intentionally advancing the design work now. By doing so, the Town will be prepared to move forward quickly when state or federal funding becomes available - potentially allowing Reading to advance ahead of other communities that are not as far along in the planning process.
What comes next
Town staff and consultants emphasized that the Walkers Brook Redesign Project remains a work in progress. As design details continue to be refined, the Town is seeking ongoing resident feedback on corridor priorities. The next major step will be pursuing external funding to support construction, with the goal of minimizing financial impact on residents while delivering long-term safety and connectivity improvements.
Image of the Walkers Brook Redesign Project Forum held at the Reading Public Library. Photo by Taylor Gregory.
