Chelmsford Street redesign committee advances phased approach, defers bike lane decision

CHELMSFORD -- April 2, 2026, Chelmsford's Center Village Master Plan Committee explored a phased approach to Chelmsford Street reconstruction, with no formal votes taken at the April 2 session. NEMCOG planner Kelly presented a "minimal change model" designed to preserve existing business parking while introducing narrow landscape strips along the corridor, and reported that property owners including Cindy Baum and a pool company tenant had expressed tentative satisfaction with the concept. A key unresolved question is whether the town can qualify for federal TIP funding without installing a dedicated bike lane, an informal MassDOT contact told Kelly the alternative of routing cyclists via Wilson Street to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail was "not a no," but cautioned that business parking objections would not satisfy MassDOT. The committee floated rerouting the Bruce Freeman connection through a proposed pocket park near the town office entrance to eliminate a hazardous diagonal crossing at Fletcher and Chelmsford streets. A comparable corridor project elsewhere was cited at $21.3 million, up from $8.3 million, with MassDOT contributing $7.1 million; the committee's own section was loosely estimated near $6.3 million, with a stormwater watershed assessment pushing any construction to 2028 or later.