Installation of a traffic playground in the existing parking lot on Hildreth Street
Installation of benches and a bike rack
Installation of new landscaping and multilingual educational signage
Click this link to learn more about traffic playgrounds!
Project Status
November 2025: The Traffic Playground is finished and open for use! We hope you were able to join for the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting on Sunday, November 16th. There are a few smaller additions still to come in the Spring including final signage, a bicycle repair station, and picnic tables. Stay tuned to this page and the City social media platforms for updates.
July 2025: Construction is well underway - see below for progress as of July 17th. The team is now waiting the necessary three (3) weeks to let the new asphalt stabilize before the traffic playground can be painted. The first phase of construction should be done in August 2025. We are also excited that extra funding has become available! This extra funding will be used to add picnic tables, a bicycle repair station, and plant new trees. Construction for these additions will be completed in Fall 2025.
June 2025: Construction has begun! The Belko Landscaping construction team will be on site working to build the Traffic Playground over the next few weeks.
January 2025: Design for the Traffic Playground has been completed. You can see the final design on Page L3 of this document: McPherson Final Design Drawings. Construction is planned to be completed in 2025.
On October 5th, 2024, the City hosted a fun, family-friendly event at McPherson Park which included a temporary version of a traffic playground for community members to test!
In partnership with The Bike Connector and the Lowell Police Department, participants received bicycle safety and skills training, gave insightful feedback to inform the design of the permanent traffic playground, and were able to take home free bicycles at the end of the day. Thanks to everyone who joined!
These photos are from engagement events held in June 2024 with students at the McAuliffe and Greenhalge Elementary Schools. The students voted for their preferred traffic playground design choices and created their own traffic playgrounds by drawing or using building kits. To cap off the day, Lowla Bear surprised the students with a visit!
The design process for the traffic playground was completed December 2024 and the students' vision played a key role from the very beginning.
Project Documents
McPherson Park Traffic Playground Concept Proposal:
