Lower South Street Neighborhood
This page contains information about the Neighborhood Slow Streets plan for Lower South Street.
Neighborhood Slow Streets is an approach to street safety requests on minor residential streets in Boston. We're focused on street designs that self-enforce slower speeds and safer behaviors. Through this program, we aim to:
- reduce the number and severity of crashes on the minor residential streets
- create safer streets for walking and biking
- add to the quality of life in neighborhoods.
The Lower South Street and Vicinity Neighborhood was added to the Neighborhood Slow Streets program in summer 2020. The City of Boston prioritizes neighborhoods for traffic-calming to serve first those areas with the most need. We work in communities with more youth, elders, and people with disabilities and where there are more public places, such as libraries, schools, and parks. We also consider the crash rate per mile on local streets.
Looking for general information about the Neighborhood Slow Streets program? Visit the Neighborhood Slow Streets page.
We want to hear your thoughts about the concept designs we shared.
Concept Designs
Neighborhood Slow Streets Overview
Welcome to Neighborhood Slow Streets! We have information about the program, our design tools, and the design timeline for your zone.
Project Updates
UpdatesOn March 31, we hosted a virtual meeting. We advertised this meeting by sending postcards to residents of the zone and through our email list.
At the meeting, we reviewed:
- general information about the Neighborhood Slow Streets program
- our work to date in collecting and reviewing residents' stories and concerns
- concept designs for two focus areas in the neighborhood: the intersection of South Street at Archdale Road and Florence Street from Harrison Street to Firth Street, and
- the next steps in our design process.
On October 20, we hosted a virtual meeting. The meeting was advertised via direct mail to residents of the zone and through our email list.
At the meeting, we reviewed:
- the Neighborhood Slow Streets program, generally
- the common tools we use to address safety concerns, and
- common feedback we heard through our surveys, via phone or email, and at our in-person workshop.
We held an outdoor workshop at the Healy Field on September 12. Residents dropped by to talk with us about their street safety and transportation concerns within the Slow Streets study area.
We start our design process by listening to residents' concerns. We asked people to share what they see happening on their streets and how they feel while out walking, bicycling, or driving. We use residents' stories and concerns to inform the design approach for the Slow Streets zone.
In the Lower South Street Neighborhood Slow Streets zone, we solicited feedback via:
- An online survey. Residents were able provide details and upload photos that describe their safety concerns. The survey was available in English, Haitian Creole, and Spanish. The survey was mobile-friendly.
- A mailed survey. Residents could choose to download and print the survey and send it to us by mail or email. Here's what the survey looked like.
Map of Zone Streets
Streets marked in blue are within project area
