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The Selectmen Report upon Changes, Past and Pending in THE STATE OF LEXINGTON In the last 50 years, even in the last 25, Lexington has evolved from a country village in an agriculture community to the attractive metropolitan suburb it is today. Because the resulting changes stem from deep roots it seems worthwhile to review them, to relate them to present problems and to speculate upon questions which the citizens of Lexington must face if adjustments to these continuing changes are to be wise and timely. All of the changes we shall dwell on are intertwined; no one has operated alone. Their cumulative effect has been broad indeed, but spread over several generations, the effect is that of change and evolution, not revolution. The same forces of change still press onward. For that reason citizens ought to be acquainted with them. Of these changes, probably the growth in automotive transportation has been the most powerful of all. It has enormously increased mobility, both for work and for recreation and has changed favorably the whole structure of American life. Yet undeniably also it has left municipal governments to wrestle with an aftermath of nagging problems such as parking, traffic direction, traffic congestion, highway safety, and the unending struggle to eliminate bottle -necks which interfere with traffic flow. All projections suggest that the number of automobiles will increase as population increases. Steps to increase off - street parking at Lexington Center are badly needed. Children within one mile of elementary schools, under present policies, walk to and from school. In snowy weather and when the frost is coming out of the ground, absence of paved sidewalks forces children to walk in the street at considerable hazard from passing automobiles. Lexington should analyze the need, attach priorities and formulate a pro- gram for paving, over a period of years, at least one side of each such street. It should also fix upon a policy for allocation of costs between the town and the property owners. The major traffic problem is the congestion in Lexington Center itself, much of it arising from non - residents who are passing through, to or from work. We can expect an additional traffic problem to crystalize when the Burlington Shopping Plaza opens. Completion of Worthen Road from its present eastern terminus through to Pleasant Street would do much to divert traffic out of the Center. Such a program must be contin- gent upon willingness on the part of the state highway department, on a basis satisfactory 5