View a Slide Show and Bring Questions, Ideas for Panel of Experts

The Trapelo Road/Belmont Street corridor is a commuter thoroughfare from Waltham to Cambridge and Boston. But this corridor is also Belmont's main street. Instead of being primarily a highway, it should better serve our neighborhoods and shopping districts. We are looking for ways to make our busiest thoroughfare into an enjoyable place to walk, shop, work, and live.

A public meeting sponsored by the Belmont Citizens Forum to discuss the future of Trapelo Road has been scheduled for April 1, 2003 at 7 pm at Belmont Studio Cinema, 376 Trapelo Road, Belmont. There will be a chance to view photos and posters of various parts of this corridor. A narrated half-hour slide show will be shown. This is a virtual walking tour from the Waverley Oaks reservation to the Cambridge line, pointing out both problems and good features along the way- important landmarks and well-restored buildings.

A public discussion with a panel of experts to help answer questions and moderated by Belmont citizen Mary Tinkham will follow. The panel of experts will include Alan McClennen, Arlington town planner who has overseen the transformation of Massachusetts Avenue; Gus Bailey, Watertown Town Councilor responsible for traffic calming on Charles River Road and North Beacon Street; Herb Kronish of the Boston Architectural Center, whose community design students have been studying the corridor; Edith Netter of Belmont, an urban planner and zoning lawyer; Mary Jo Frisoli, Chair, Belmont Traffic Advisory Committee, and Karl Haglund and Andy McClurg, both of the Belmont Planning Board.

Belmont is considering both traffic-calming measures and rezoning along this corridor. Here's a chance to see what some of the issues are, to share your opinion, and to hear what others think.

Popcorn and refreshments will be served. For more information, call the Belmont Citizens Forum at 617-484-1844 or visit www.belmontcitizensforum.org.