#Acton #ActonDPW #ActonMA #ActonMA01720
Friends of Acton,
During 2025, I urged Acton leaders to prioritize PEOPLE AND PLACES over CARS AND TRAFFIC, with mixed results.
From 2025-01-13 to 2025-10-28, I made six (6) public statements (to the Select Board and Finance Committee) about pedestrian safety, in general, and sidewalks, in particular (https://www.giantpeople.com/?s=%22Public+Statement%22).
On 2025-03-18, I posted a video about the dangers of walking our dog on Forest Road (https://www.giantpeople.com/17548.html).
On 2025-04-01, I wrote a letter to the editor of The Acton Exchange (https://www.actonexchange.org/letters/letter-vote-no-on-actons-dpw-debacle/) and published a blog post (https://www.giantpeople.com/17553.html), in which I urged Acton voters to vote “no” on the proposed DPW project (which excluded sidewalks).
On 2025-04-11, Acton published its Town Report (https://ma-acton2.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/21572), in which the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) report stated (emphasis in original):
“In 2021, the Town Manager developed a plan that involves borrowing money to achieve more production of sidewalks than we have been able to do in the years since 2009 when the former Sidewalk Committee created a priority list. In 2024, TAC continued to urge the Select Board to make progress with this plan. Sidewalk production is a part of [the] Town’s capital plan. The budget does not include the level of debt funding needed to move ahead boldly in this area…. Various locations continue to remain pressing safety concerns from the pedestrian/bicyclist perspective: Stow Street residents repeatedly stated their concerns about the safety of the region, given walk/bike popularity due to the commuter rail station, Jones Field, an early education center, Lombardo’s landscaping trucks, residential density, and high vehicular speeds…. Forest Road, which sees heavy vehicle traffic to and from the DPW facility, has been on the sidewalk list for many years. The volume of trucks and snow plows would be expected to grow with the town’s population.”
On 2025-04-14, a video by Greg Jarboe, in which he discussed the Finance Committee’s recommendation to not recommend the DPW project, was unpublished from the Acton TV website while pro-DPW videos remained online (https://www.giantpeople.com/17623.html).
On 2025-04-29, the Town of Acton voted and rejected ballot question #1 (https://actonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10550), which would have allowed Acton to borrow/spend about $37 million on a DPW project with zero dollars budgeted for sidewalks. The Select Board was unanimously in favor of the DPW project. The Finance Committee was unanimously opposed to the DPW project. The DPW question failed by a margin of 56.41% to 39.51% (https://www.giantpeople.com/17627.html).
On 2025-09-15, the Select Board unanimously appointed me as an associate (non-voting) member of the Transportation Advisory Committee.
On 2025-10-28, I presented the results of my independent spending survey, which showed that of the Select Board’s 13 goals (from their listening sessions), only six (6) of the goals have clear public support, and seven (7) do not have clear public support, within the statistical margin of error (https://www.giantpeople.com/17692.html).
On 2025-11-13, the Sidewalks For Acton petition reached 600 supporters (https://www.change.org/p/build-sidewalks-on-forest-road-for-a-safer-acton-ma-01720/u/34059309).
On 2025-11-14, the Town Manager published his 10-year capital plan (https://actonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11106/FY2027-2036-Capital-Improvement-Plan), showing only $1.4M for Complete Streets and Sidewalks in FY2027, which would only be about 0.3 miles of sidewalk production. This is a decrease of 26% from the FY2026 $1.9M budget for Complete Streets and Sidewalks.
On 2025-12-15, I published a blog post criticizing Acton’s CARS-FIRST approach to Kelley’s Corner (https://www.giantpeople.com/17759.html).
In summary, the Select Board and the Town Manager continue to push forward with budgets and projects that do not clearly align with the priorities of Acton Voters. The residents of Stow Road, for example, have been waiting decades for sidewalks (see quote from TAC, above). I think that we can and should find the money (whether by cutting obvious waste from the Town of Acton’s budget or borrowing/bonding the necessary funds) to build sidewalks that Actonians clearly want. And when sidewalks can be incorporated into larger bonded projects (such as the proposed DPW project), then they should be, both for the safety of the neighborhood and because the marginal cost would be less than two (2) pennies/day for the average Actonian (https://www.giantpeople.com/17587.html).
As for my plans, I have not ruled out a run for the Select Board, but I am hoping not to have to do so. You can help by voting for candidates whose goals align with yours. Thanks for your support! -Erik Heels (heels@alum.mit.edu)
LEGAL DISCLAIMER & NOTICE: The “Sidewalks For Acton” campaign was started by and is funded by GiantPeople LLC, a single-person LLC founded in 1999 by Erik J. Heels (heels@alum.mit.edu). Erik is a small business owner, a USAF veteran, and has been an Actonian since 1995. Except for a one-year stint from 2024-2025, Erik has never belonged to any political party. Opinions expressed herein are Erik’s individually, not the opinions of any Acton board or committee.
