Concord's former landfill on Walden Street will get a 150-foot cell tower after the project cleared its final municipal hurdles in September.

New York-based Wireless Edge plans to begin construction in fall 2026 and activate antennas in spring 2027, Town Manager Kerry Lafleur announced at the Sept. 14 Select Board meeting. The Concord Bridge first reported the timeline. It holds unless a project opponent files an appeal.

The tower at 755 Walden St., on town-owned land in the Wireless Overlay District, will boost cell service for commuters who regularly lose signal near the Route 2 and Walden Street intersection. It will also improve coverage across parts of the Concord-Carlisle High School campus, though it will not do much for Concord Center.

Three boards signed off.

The Planning Board reviewed the project under a Special Permit and Site Plan Review at its Sept. 8 meeting, according to town agenda records. The Zoning Board of Appeals also approved the plan. The Historical Commission concluded the tower does not appear to risk creating "a significant visual intrusion" at nearby Walden Pond.

That finding resolved a question that had dogged the project for more than a year. Kathi Anderson of the Walden Woods Project warned of a "tremendous aesthetic impact" on the Walden Pond State Reservation when the lease was approved in April 2025, The Concord Bridge reported.

At a June 18 Historical Commission meeting, member Lauren Meier said the potential impact extended beyond the pond to surrounding woodland within the National Historic Landmark boundary, according to commission minutes. Member Carol Aronson said the visual analysis should account for winter conditions, when leaves are off the trees.

The commission reviewed drone photographs taken from roughly 175 feet above the proposed site before ultimately finding no significant visual intrusion.

Lafleur told The Concord Bridge the boards acted in a "very, very reasonable" amount of time once Wireless Edge filed its applications. The company had hoped to submit permit paperwork in summer 2025 but did not file until July 2026.

Under a lease approved in spring 2025, Wireless Edge will pay Concord $31,212 in the first year, with payments rising 3% annually. The town will also receive 35% of the company's gross revenues from carriers that sublease tower space.

The tower can accommodate up to five carriers. As of April 2025, AT&T and Verizon had expressed interest, though current carrier commitments have not been confirmed.

The landfill tower is one piece of a broader push by the Select Board, which made expanding cell coverage a goal for fiscal year 2027. A separate project at the town-owned Umbrella Arts Center on Stow Street could begin construction in summer 2027, though Lafleur said that timeline remains out of the town's control. That Verizon transmitter, planned for the building's cupola, would support only one carrier.

Concord's cell coverage gaps have frustrated residents for years. In May 2026, Town Meeting voters rejected a zoning overhaul that would have allowed transmitters in more locations by one vote, falling short of the required two-thirds majority.

No appeal deadline for the landfill tower project has been publicly posted.