Newton Finance Committee Approves $46,500 for Newtonville Curb Cut Accessibility Work

NEWTON -- March 23, 2026, Newton Finance Committee unanimously approves $46,500 for ADA curb cuts in Newtonville. The committee voted Monday to transfer funds from the Commission on Disability's fines account to install accessible curb ramps at the corner of Walker Street and Proctor Street, an intersection near senior housing and the former Horace Mann School now occupied by NECP. Jack Lovett, COD co-chair, told the committee the project had been approved twice by the commission after originally being slated for Community Development Block Grant funding that was redirected to a higher-priority ramp project at Life in Newton Center. The Engineering Division plans to bundle the Walker-Proctor work with a second CDBG-funded curb cut project at Lincoln and Harrison Avenue into a single bid, anticipating a cost discount. City CFO Maureen Lemieux noted that a policy change three to four years ago redirected 100 percent of accessibility fine revenue to the COD, up from a 60-40 split, accounting for a fund balance Lovett said had grown to approximately $150,000. The committee separately voted no action necessary on a $150,000 fire station bathroom renovation request, which the Public Facilities Committee had already flagged as incomplete.