Lexington Select Board Approves Traffic Overhaul, Keeps Bike Lanes on Mass Ave

LEXINGTON -- July 6, 2026, Lexington Select Board unanimously approved five traffic and parking measures and closed out fiscal year 2026 budget books at its July 6 meeting. Budget Director Rosalind Impink presented end-of-year adjustments including more than $596,000 in interdepartmental transfers, a $189,000 draw from the town manager's $1.6 million salary adjustment reserve to cover Fire Department personal services overruns, and revolving fund cap increases of $203,000 for tourism, $80,000 for building rentals, and $52,000 for compost, with the tourism fund's unusually high activity driven by World Cup watch parties that drew 20,000 visitors over 11 days. Town Manager Steve Bartha noted the budget team's projection had landed within four and a half tenths of one percent of the town's $300 million budget. The board also voted to convert Forest Street at Clark Street and Forest Street at Muzzy Street to all-way stop control after a consultant's warrant analysis found sight lines at Muzzy below AASHTO minimums, and approved year-round weekday morning parking restrictions on three sections of Parker Street to create a traffic-calming chicane near the high school. Engineers presented six intersection design concepts for the Adams and East Street area near Fisk Elementary, with a neighborhood meeting planned before staff returns for design direction; any land-acquisition option would require town meeting authorization in 2027 at the earliest, with construction not before 2029. Bartha disclosed that the town's Economic Development Director had been recruited away to lead a Boston nonprofit and would depart this summer, following last week's announcement that the Assistant Town Manager for Land Use would retire this fall.