The pronunciation of Trapelo Road is controversial. It was originally named by the fur trappers in the area, because they would set a trap below, near the Beaver Brook, and pronounced like those two words run together. Reportedly, the pronunciation changed when non-local traffic broadcasters guessed at how to say its exit from I-95. Many people now put the accent on the second syllable. If the name came from the Italian, and it was spelled "Trapello", that might make sense. The longest road in Waltham, it enters from Lincoln at the north-west border, and exits to the east where it joins Waverley Oaks Road, and then enters Belmont. Along the way, it intersects I-95, Lexington Street, and Forest Street.
Jon N. LeChevet, on 6/3/13, wrote this about the name of the road: "Read your discussion on the origin of the name for Trapelo Road. I lived in Watertown many years ago and came up Trapelo on my way home from University in Boston. I recall the origin of the name coming from the French and meaning a particular way two teams of horses were hitched to pull a single wagon. Supposedly there was a business where a second team of horses would be hooked {en trapello] to a goods wagon so that it could make it up the hill and continue its journey West. The second team would then go back down the hill and wait for the next customer. Sort of the way the railroads use to engage a helper engine to get a freight train up a steep grade. Tried to find the term on the Internet, but to no avail - guess I need to find an old French trapper? <];-)"
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Updated: 15 June 2018