I’ve only lived in Newton Centre for sixteen years now, and it just dawned on me that both Centre and Beacon St. get wider in Newton Centre, adding an additional lane (Beacon between Langley and Centre only during the PM rush). As the use is most pedestrian-oriented, the street gets the least pedestrian friendly. That’s nuts.
I don’t think this is true of any other villages, with the exception of some left-turn lanes.
Presumably, the justification is traffic flow, especially because there are a lot of turning actions at Beacon and Centre. But that’s backwards. Vehicular flow through a village should be less important than the safety and comfort of folks walking to and from the businesses in the village.
