Project Description: Reading – Oakland Road at Reading Memorial High School and Coolidge Middle School (SRTS)
Project File No. 613564
A Virtual Design Public Hearing will be hosted on the MassDOT website below to present the design for the proposed project in Reading, MA.
WHEN: 6:00 PM, Wednesday, December 17, 2025
PURPOSE: The purpose of this hearing is to provide the public with the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the proposed project. All views and comments submitted in response to the hearing will be reviewed and considered to the maximum extent possible.
PROPOSAL: The proposed project consists of enhancing the safety and accessibility for multimodal users accessing the Reading Memorial High School and Arthur W. Coolidge Middle School via Oakland Road and the adjacent intersections. The project aims to encourage walking and biking to school and provide accessible connections to surrounding neighborhoods. The project plans 11-foot travel lanes and parking spaces on both sides of Oakland Road. A 10-foot shared use path with a 5-foot minimum buffer is proposed along the westerly side of Oakland to provide bicycle and pedestrian accommodations for the school area and residents. For the east side, a 5.5′ sidewalk will be provided with mid-block crossings along the corridor of Oakland Road to encourage low speeds and shorter crossing distances.
A secure right-of-way is necessary for this project. Acquisitions in fee and permanent or temporary easements may be required. The town of Massachusetts is responsible for acquiring all needed rights in private or public lands. MassDOT’s policy concerning land acquisitions will be presented in the hearing.
Project inquiries, written statements and other exhibits regarding the proposed undertaking may be submitted to Carrie E. Lavallee, P.E., Chief Engineer, via e-mail to MassDOTProjectManagement@dot.state.ma.us or via US Mail to Suite 7550, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, Attention: Project Management, Project File No. 613564. Statements and exhibits intended for inclusion in the hearing transcript must be emailed or postmarked no later than ten (10) business days (14 calendar days) after the hearing is hosted.
This hearing is accessible to people with disabilities. MassDOT provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (e.g interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, live captioning, videos, assistive listening devices and alternate material formats), as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact MassDOT’s Chief Diversity and Civil Rights Officer by phone (857-368-8580), TTD/TTY at (857) 266-0603, fax (857) 368-0602 or by email (MassDOT.CivilRights@dot.state.ma.us). Requests should be made as soon as possible and prior to the hearing, and for more difficult to arrange services including sign-language, CART or language translation or interpretation, requests should be made at least ten business days before the hearing.
This hearing will be hosted, or a cancellation announcement posted, on the internet at https://www.mass.gov/orgs/highway-division/events.
JONATHAN GULLIVER
HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR
CARRIE E. LAVALLEE, P.E.
CHIEF ENGINEER
