One woman came to the town's first public forum on the Square on October 14. She lives near the Square, and she told the room that driving over to Roche Bros. is like "going around the Mulberry bush." The Swellesley Report reported that she came to the Hunnewell Elementary meeting to have her say about congestion. Another attendee asked what to do about people crossing Washington Street between the church and Anderson's Jewelers, in the middle of the five-way intersection.
Comments like these are now feeding a design process with a published schedule and a projected price tag. Meanwhile, the Square's largest buildings are mostly standing still, each for its own reason. The Taylor Block's owner has other priorities, Fire Station 1 is waiting on a separate siting decision, and a planned restaurant at 56 Central has stalled. That leaves the curbs, crosswalks and parking the town settles on over the next few months as the change most likely to reach Central, Washington and Grove first.
Two Intersections Carry Most of the Weight
On paper, the Wellesley Square Improvement Project covers a lot of ground. The town's announcement defines the Square as running from the Washington Street and Wellesley Avenue intersection to the Central Street and Weston Road intersection, including all of Church Street and part of Grove Street. The Swellesley Report's description goes further. It adds stretches of Weston Road and Crest Road up to the railroad bridges, Washington Street out to Wiswall Circle, and Grove Street from the Post Office to roughly 51 Grove Street.
The design work is narrower than that map. Wellesley hired Toole Design and BETA Traffic and Engineering Group to gather and analyze data on existing conditions. The town's next public session is built around two intersections:
- Central, Washington and Grove, the five-way junction near the church and Anderson's Jewelers
- Central, Crest and Railroad, by the commuter rail bridge
The meeting will cover their geometry, traffic flow and pedestrian safety. The project's StoryMap says the design aims to serve the Square for the next 25 years. Its goals include better traffic flow at those key intersections, more parking opportunities for visitors and merchants, new gathering spaces, and updated lighting, benches, parking meters and crosswalks. It also wants to connect the Central and Washington corridor, the Church Street area and the Grove Street businesses so they work as one district.
At the October forum, the room went straight to the trade-offs those goals create. The Swellesley Report said the top concerns were clear even before the survey results came in:
- Businesses don't want to lose parking.
- The main intersections are dangerous for drivers and pedestrians alike.
- People want more places to sit outside, on sidewalks or in parklets.
The ideas that came up show how much rides on those choices. One attendee liked extra-large parking spaces that drivers can pull into without stopping traffic to parallel park, and others replied that bigger spaces mean fewer spaces. Some suggested a tiered parking garage, and others pointed to what one costs. Another attendee questioned where the accessibility ramps sit on the commuter rail platforms and said the train station could use an actual station building. Every one of these choices affects how customers reach the storefronts along the Square, including the ones whose futures are unsettled right now.
The Buildings in Limbo
The Taylor Block, 540 to 568 Washington Street
The longest commercial row in the Square changed hands last year. According to The Swellesley Report, Jumbo Capital bought the Taylor Block at Washington and Grove from the Sullivan family for $15.25 million. Rice Burg, Old School Pizzeria and Tutto Italiano are still there. Comina and Panoply have left, and some of the empty windows now have brown paper and "for lease" signs.
The block isn't Jumbo's priority. At the September 29 All Board Meeting, Wellesley Executive Director Meghan Jop said Jumbo is unlikely to do much with the Taylor Block for five years because it is focused on redeveloping 888 Worcester Street. The Swellesley Report covered her remarks. At 888 Worcester, The Swellesley Report says Jumbo has described a senior living complex with independent living, assisted living and memory care. Its partner, Life Care Services, would operate the facility if the project clears zoning hurdles, and Jumbo hopes for a zoning change at the spring Annual Town Meeting. At the October forum, The Swellesley Report wrote that "the word" was that Jumbo would bide its time on the Taylor Block and see how things shake out with the Square plan.
That five-year window lines up with the town's own schedule. A construction funding request for the Square could reach Town Meeting in 2027 or 2028. If both timelines hold, the street design for the Washington and Grove corner should be settled before any major work on the Taylor Block begins.
Fire Station 1 on Central Street
The Square's firehouse is waiting on a separate decision. In June, as The Swellesley Report described, the Fire Department presented a master plan to the Select Board. It calls for a new 26,000-square-foot headquarters, an expanded Route 9 station serving as a substation, and the sale or reuse of Station 1 in the Square. The estimated total cost is $65 million to $75 million. The preferred headquarters site is 156 Weston Road at Curve Street on the North 40.
No site has been picked. At an October 1 North 40 workshop, Select Board Chair Marjorie Freiman said none had been chosen, and the town won't seek funding for a site feasibility study until the spring Annual Town Meeting at the earliest. The Swellesley Report covered the workshop. Earlier, residents had raised concerns about building on the North 40, including traffic, environmental effects and losing part of the community garden.
Even so, the station came up during the Square discussion. At the October forum, according to The Swellesley Report, attendees asked whether the classic Central Street firehouse could become an arts building. Some brought up earlier talk of an arts center on the Tailby Lot, the parking lot that serves the Wellesley Square train station.
56 Central Street
The Square's most talked-about restaurant arrival has stalled. Wonder, the virtual food hall chain, told The Swellesley Report over the summer that it planned to open in Wellesley next year, and a July permit application pointed to 56 Central Street. In October, Wonder pulled its sign and minor construction applications before a Design Review Board discussion. No reason was given. The building inspector said no building permit has been issued. Orangetheory, which has its studio at 56 Central, has told patrons that Wonder isn't coming and that it is committed to building its business in the Square. For now, the biggest storefront change expected in the middle of Central Street has stalled, while the redesign of the street out front keeps to its schedule.
The Calendar From Here
The StoryMap lays out the design process as four stages over about 20 months:
- Stage 1, August to mid-October 2026. Listening and analysis of existing conditions. This ended with the October 14 forum.
- Stage 2, mid-October to early December 2026. Refined design alternatives for the key intersections. The next public session, on refined alternatives and technical performance, is listed for early December.
- Stage 3, early December 2026 to late January 2027. A preferred design concept, to be presented in late January.
- Stage 4, 2027. Final design and construction phasing, followed by a funding request at Town Meeting in 2027 or 2028.
The town's September notice originally billed the second meeting as a November session, so its date has already moved once. The project website projects the construction request at about $6 million. The Square will be competing for that money with the town's other capital needs, and a $65 million to $75 million fire headquarters is one of them.
Before the Next Session
The early-December meeting is when lines start going on maps. The StoryMap says it will add new data layers as they become available: traffic counts and turning movements at the key intersections, a signal equipment inventory, crash history, on-street and off-street parking use, and a topographic survey. Any of those layers posted before the session are worth a look.
Other ways to get up to speed:
- Watch the October 14 presentations, which Wellesley Media posted online.
- Follow updates on the project webpage.
- Send questions to Sheila Page, Transportation and Mobility Manager, or Dave Hickey, Town Engineer. Both are listed as project contacts.
On Sunday, December 6, the Wellesley Square Merchants' Association holds its Holiday Stroll and Scavenger Hunt from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. That falls in the same early-December window as the refined designs for the Central, Washington and Grove intersection.
Following civic projects like this one is part of how I help Needham and MetroWest families think about the places they live over the long run. If you'd like a local read on how the Wellesley Square plan could affect your street or your home's value, reach out to Alison Borrelli and get your free home value report.
