The street lines saga that seemed to salt old wounds last summer will not get a sequel.

Mayor Marc Laredo announced on Thursday night that he and DPW Commissioner Shawna Sullivan and Transportation Director Ned Codd “found a path forward” in the curious conundrum that pitted interpretation of state law against a 90-year tradition.

Last June, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller had the DPW remove the red, white and green lines—painted with City Hall permission onto Adams Street in Nonantum every year since 1935 in the lead-up to the St. Mary of Carmen Society’s Italian-American Festival—and that didn’t go over well with Nonantum residents, for whom a beef with Mayor Fuller was nothing new.

Fuller said state law required two yellow lines down the center of Adams Street because of the frequency of traffic that street sees, while Nonantum residents accused her of cherry-picking the busiest weekends of the year for claims about how much traffic Adams Street actually gets. And there was a question over what constituted the travel width since parking is allowed on both sides but no actual spaces are marked.

Then-City Council President Marc Laredo speaks to Nonantum residents outside City Hall to address a controversy over the removal of Italian flag-colored lines from Adams Street. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Then-City Council President Laredo, a seasoned attorney running for mayor, opposed the decision to remove the Italian flag-colored lines and promised to work something out to solve the dispute over state law.

And now that he’s mayor, it looks like that “path forward” will be lined with Italian pride and parking spaces.

“I’m excited to announce that in recognition of a nearly century-old Newton tradition, as soon as weather permits, we will repaint red and green stripes on either side of a white reflective stripe to symbolize the Italian flag,” Laredo wrote in an email announcement to the community.

The solution to the yellow line problem comes, ironically, by painting new lines on Adams Street: parking space lines.

“Previously, while parking was allowed on certain sections of Adams Street, there was no designated parking lane, so the entire width of the road from curb to curb was the ‘traveled way’ for purposes of determining whether a double yellow line was recommended under federal safety standards,” Laredo explained. “Earlier this week, DPW crews painted lines marking the parking spaces on either side of the road, creating new parking lanes. This change in conditions narrowed the traveled way of the road. Therefore, a double yellow line was no longer necessary and only a white reflective strip in the center of the road was required.”

So now, Adams Street will have Italian flag lines, parking space lines and a line of reflective tape. And rather than removing lines, Nonantum diplomacy appears to means the more lines the merrier.

Contractors will paint the Italian pride colors down Adams Street next to a reflective stripe when weather permits, the mayor added, so they will be there in time for Nonantum’s Village Day in June and the Italian-American Festival (usually called “Festa” for short) in July. There’s also a parade in Nonantum planned for May 17 to mark the nation’s 250th birthday and honor those who have served in the military.

A trip down Adams Street now will show that there are already parts painted with Italian flag colors again. Neighbors took it upon themselves to repaint them as a show of solidarity last summer.

Salut, Nonantum.

PHOTOS: St. Mary of Carmen Society Festa 2025