CANTERBURY ROAD RESIDENT Stephanie Slate stands in front of new road surface markings at the Salem Street and Canterbury Road intersection that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation painted last month. Slate launched the initiative to get the road markings painted in March 2022. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNNFIELD — A South Lynnfield woman’s persistent efforts led to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) painting road surface markings at the Salem Street and Canterbury Road intersection last month.
Canterbury Road resident Stephanie Slate began the process of getting the road markings painted at the Salem Street and Canterbury Road intersection to prevent cars from blocking the intersection in March 2022. After three-and-a-half years in the making, MassDOT completed the project last month.
“I’m overjoyed,” said Slate in an interview with the Villager. “I moved to Lynnfield four years ago, and this has been a long time coming.”
Slate, who was elected to the Board of Library Trustees during the April 2025 Town Election, said she realized the intersection was a problem when she and her husband, Richard, moved to town in August 2021.
“When my son was born, it inspired me to really act,” said Slate. “Having a baby in the backseat puts things into perspective as what I didn’t realize is how fast the cars whipped around the corner taking a right turn coming off Route 1 Northbound. Trying to leave Canterbury Road and having him the backseat put him at risk every time I attempted to take a left. Either the cars coming off would hit the backseat as I pulled out or the cars trying to cross Route 1 from Salem Street would hit him directly. It was terrifying, and we sadly had some close calls with drivers not paying attention.”
Slate mailed a letter and sent an email to the Select Board to inquire about getting road markings painted at the intersection in March 2022.
“They recommended that I talk to the Department of Public Works,” said Slate. “From there, I was passed around by town administration, DPW, Select Board, the town engineer, etc. Essentially, Salem Street is a state road, Route 129, so MassDOT had to be involved to make any changes.”
Slate reached out to House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) and State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) for assistance with getting the road markings painted on the Salem Street and Canterbury Road intersection.
“The two of them were instrumental in keeping me up-to-date on things I needed to do such as a petition as well as who to reach out to at MassDOT,” said Slate.
Slate said Jones and Crighton recommended that she circulate a petition in order to show MassDOT “the seriousness of my inquiry and my cause.”
“I asked, ‘how many signatures do I need,’ to which Rep. Jones said, ‘as many as possible. At least 100,’” said Slate.
Slate decided that her “best chance of gathering signatures” was at the 2024 Fall Town Meeting last November.
“In my professional life, I travel on behalf of my company and attend premier events to connect with clients,” said Slate. “At an event in May 2024, a customer needed to sync with me and the account representative asked me to ‘wear something they would find me in.’”
Slate realized that her “bright yellow blazer is perfect for this.”
“The customer found me with ease,” said Slate. “I figured if it worked professionally, it could work at Town Meeting. I posted on the Lynnfield Listens and Lynnfield Conversations Facebook pages explaining the petition and asked people to find me at Town Meeting in my yellow blazer. Many residents said they saw my Facebook post and said the yellow blazer was genius.”
Slate said the three-and-a-half years it took to have the road markings painted at the Canterbury Road and Salem Street intersection gave her a better understanding of how government works.
“When working with the government, you need to be the most organized person possible,” said Slate. “Every time I emailed someone or called someone, I wrote down the date and time. I kept very detailed records of who I spoke to. Essentially, I had a paper trail a mile-long showing all the due diligence I was doing on my end. Despite being frustrated, I always made sure to be as pleasant as possible with anyone I connected with, reminding them that I was a mom just trying to keep my son and the kids of Canterbury Road safe. This wasn’t a political issue; it was a safety issue and I had to be relentless. If I saw anyone from the DPW or town administration in person, I’d remind them of my effort. When I finally reached the manager at MassDOT and listed all the folks I had spoken to, he said, ‘Oh, so everyone in the office,’ and then laughed.”
Slate said, “There were definitely times that I wanted to stop, as it felt like the obstacles were stacked against me.”
“For example, I needed to speak to the District 4 office from MassDOT as that was the office that would be scheduled to complete the work,” said Slate. “The problem? I wasn’t able to leave a voice message, as the mailbox was full. I probably called the number every four months for two years and I was never able to leave a message. It wasn’t until I connected and spoke to Cheryl Dustin on July 22, who then got me connected to Peter Tramontozzi and Paul Stedman from District 4, that expedited everything.”
While Slate launched the Canterbury Road and Salem Street intersection road markings initiative, she said a number of people helped with the effort. She thanked Crighton’s legislative aide Alice O’Neill for going “above and beyond, as she continually checked in and kept me in the loop.”
“Alice was the most responsive person I worked with in any form of government, both state and locally,” said Slate. “She was absolutely phenomenal.”
Slate said her neighbor, Nick Tenaglia, studied the Salem Street traffic lights’ patterns. She said he suggested to that Canterbury Road residents needed “a delay on the pattern for the cars turning right off Route 1 Northbound.” She said Tenaglia suggested that Slate ask MassDOT to make that change as well.
“That single change of three seconds made a world of difference, as it gave us enough time to pull out if there was an opening,” said Slate.
Slate also said Canterbury Road residents Nancy Pecoraro and Lauren West “continually reached out to the town and MassDOT for updates so it wasn’t all on my shoulders.”
“The whole Canterbury Road crew as we call ourselves has been amazing and this victory is as much theirs as it is mine,” said Slate. “The whole neighborhood really came together on this one, as it benefited all the families living on the street.”
Slate also thanked her husband, Richard, for his support.
“Richard kept saying if anyone can do this, it’s you,” said Slate. “He was beyond thrilled for me and our family when they went down. Anytime your husband says to you that he’s proud of you and you should be proud of yourself, it’s a good day.”
Slate also thanked Town Administrator Rob Dolan, retired Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin, DPW Director John Scenna, Select Board Vice Chair Alexis Leahy, Select Board member Dick Dalton, Select Board Chair Phil Crawford and “other town employees for their support.”
“Lastly, MassDOT District 4 employees Paul Stedman, Cheryl Dustin and Peter Tramontozzi were the ones to get this done,” added Slate.
Slate noted that Canterbury Road residents have dealt with a number of traffic challenges for many years.
“From a personal standpoint, imagine every time you leave your street where there’s only one way in and one way out, you have to hope that someone is going to be kind, stop and let you turn into the line of traffic,” said Slate. “As a Massachusetts resident, this does not happen. Maybe if we lived in the South and there was southern hospitality, but in the Greater Boston area, with our aggressive drivers, it’s slim to none. Now think about if you have children — how many times do you leave your house during the day to drive them to school, doctors appointments, practices, games, etc. What about going to work? We could safely assume that, on average, we leave our house five times a day. I think we have 26 homes on our street. I’ll average it out, but let’s say 100 times a day, residents need to leave. That means 100 times a day, before the changes, cars could potentially hit us as they whipped around the corner. That means 100 times a day we had to hope that cars crossing Route 1 would leave room to pull in. We didn’t have great odds at all.”
When asked how have drivers received the new road markings, Slate said: “It’s a work in progress.”
“MassDOT offered to have the Lynnfield Police Department and State Police monitor to ensure the new road markings are being adhered to,” said Slate. “There is a ‘do not block Intersection’ sign and as more drivers realize the change, I think we will see more folks follow it.”
Slate said getting MassDOT to paint the road markings taught her the importance of perseverance.
“I’m a working mom,” said Slate. “I made calls in between meetings, before dinner, emailed first thing in the morning, asked for follow ups, etc. I kept detailed notes. In my opinion, the government is supposed to work for the good of the people it serves. This wasn’t a political issue; this was a safety issue for my son, my street and my community — all of which I care about. I’m one person, and I am so glad to say that I made a difference.”