At the regularly scheduled Select Board meeting on Monday, December 11, 2023 (at 7pm) the Board, pursuant to its statutory role of the Highway Surveyors, will discuss and deliberate on a request to change the street name for a section of Lowland Street [from the Upper Charles Rail Trail crossing to the intersection of Lowland Street and Woodland Street].
The meeting will be hybrid (in-person or via Zoom) and public comment will be accepted but can also be sent in advance to ahernt@holliston.k12.ma.us by 4pm on Monday December 11, 2023.
The section of Lowland Street for which a name change will be discussed is circled on the map below:
Why are we renaming this road? Is this a social justice initiative to reconcile the actions of someone who lived 300 years ago? Can’t wait to drive down Floyd Road.
Why?
My understanding is that is has to do with racism and revisionist history
The Board voted in favor of this name change petition based on the request to differentiate this residential section of Lowland Street from the industrial section of Lowland Street which is delineated on the zoning map by the crossing of the Upper Charles Rail Trail.
You can view the area on the Town’s MapsOnline at the link below and by clicking the “Zoning” box on the left of the screen:
https://www.mapsonline.net/hollistonma/index.html#x=-7951786.3748,5191828.104863,-7948523.469156,5193359.234086
The residential section [from Woodland Street to the Trail] has also seen a recent improvement of a sidewalk extension to take pedestrians to the school complex on Woodland Street now and in 2024 when Woodland Street is under construction for the dam/bridge project.
Travis J. Ahern
Town Administrator
Thank you to the Town Administrator for his excellent background and reasoning for this Street name change and to the Select Board for recognizing our neighborhood. Help us keep it residential