Making Appleton Street one-way from Highland Street to Huron Avenue

In response to the council order to consider making Appleton St one-way from Highland Ave to Huron Ave, staff reports the following:  Appleton Street between Huron Ave and Brattle St is a 25’ wide street with two parking lanes and two directions of travel. This is a very tight cross-section that is more challenging near Huron Ave, where the parking is more heavily utilized.  Any change to a one-way operation should be for the full length of Appleton St from Brattle St to Huron Ave, so as not to cause confusion for drivers and to minimize traffic impacts on Highland Ave.  Primary emergency response into the neighborhood is from Huron Ave, as the closest fire stations are on Lexington Ave (near Huron Ave) and Taylor Square (Huron Ave and Garden St). In order to maintain emergency response access, if Appleton is made one- way, the Fire Department strongly supports making it one-way from Huron Ave to Brattle St.  Making Appleton St one-way would reduce conflicts, but would likely increase the speed of traffic on the street and could impact traffic volumes on other streets.  City staff will o conduct traffic counts and speed studies on: Appleton St, Highland Ave, Sparks St, Fayerweather St and Reservoir St. o survey impacted residents and businesses to determine the level of support for making Appleton St one-way vs maintaining 2-way traffic.

Existing Conditions (25’ roadway with two travel lanes and 2 parking lanes)