City of Methuen Master Plan

Transportation and Circulation
is a major point of congestion and safety concerns, and steps are being taken by the State to identify
solutions there.
Other factors helping make Methuen a “driving city” relate to demographic shifts over years. The
number of households with two or more cars increased over 70% in the last 10 years, and three-car
households are growing fast, too. More cars translate directly to more driving and less support for
transit, walking, and cycling. Further, residents are driving to work more than in the past, in part
because they are commuting longer distances. Fewer Methuen residents work in Methuen than did
in 1990, and the number traveling to Boston daily has grown.
Alternatives to driving are few. There is no coherent and useable sidewalk network and no trails or
multi-use paths that could provide transportation alternatives. Transit is hard to use—buses have
no presence on the street because they operate on a flag-stop basis. Using commuter rail requires
most to drive and pay for parking and a one-way ticket that costs over $6.00.
Comments at the visioning sessions identified problem intersections, corridors with congestion or
high speeds, and safety issues. Larger issues for the longer-term Master Plan, on the other hand,
focus on improving transit, sidewalks, establishing bike trails, improving the pedestrian environment
through a variety of methods, and in general providing more and better ways to get around outside a
car. The public also considered the role that segregating land uses has on traffic and congestion and
the ability to do routine activities without using a car.
TRANSPORTATION AND CIRCULATION GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STRATEGIES
Goal T-1: Address congestion and safety issues on arterial streets to minimize traffic
diverting to local streets.
Objectives:
• Work with the MVPC to monitor the impacts of regional traffic growth on local streets.
• Work with developers and MassHighway to provide improvements on state and regional roads to minimize
impacts to local streets.
Strategies:
T-1.1: Continue to work with EOT to develop a plan for Route 110/113 rotary improvements
that can be funded and implemented and will improve local roadway conditions.
T-1.2: Work with MassHighway and MVPA to design and implement signal and roadway
improvements at Howe Street/Washington Street/Rte. 113
T-1.3: Conduct a city-wide traffic study to identify capacity constraints, connectivity issues,
deficient signals and pavement markings, pedestrian crossing problems, issues
constraining transit vehicles, and impediments to cycling. Establish a Task Force to
help guide the study.
T-1.4: Establish a project priority list and prepare Project Need Forms for MassHighway.
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