Last night about 40 people attended a hearing by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Highway Division give a presentation on the redevelopment of Central Avenue.

The meeting was conducted by Phillip MacDonald, manager of the project for Mass DOT. Assisting him were members of the engineering firm Beta Group and Joe Lynch, Director of the Milton Department of Public Works, and John Thompson, also of the Milton DPW.

The project involves roadway improvement on Central avenue including drainage, traffic calming measures and, most significantly a two way 10′ wide multi-use path from Turner’s Pond down to the intersection where Maple Street intersects Central Avenue (altogether a redesign of a 4700 foot roadway that is currently ~44′ wide). The project would commence sometime in fall of 2010 and be completed within 2 years at a cost of ~$3.1 million. The state would require about 100 temporary easements. There would be no change in property or driveway widths etc. Crosswalks at the intersections of Central with Hinkley, Columbine, School, and Maple streets would all be improved. 

The path would run along the easterly side of the road and parking would be available on the westerly side. Shortly before reaching Central Square it would cut over to the westerly and link up with the bike path out of Central Square that goes to Pope John Paul Park.

Residents who spoke voiced a series of concerns. Most centered on the bike path and it’s design. The path would be demarcated from the street and the shoulder would be removed from the easterly side. Questions arose about:

• maintenance and snow removal
• safety (i.e. drivers would need to back up directly into the roadway and no longer have the shoulder as a “buffer”
• another safety concern was drivers backing across the path used by the bikers and pedestrians
• traffic congestion – currently cars can easily navigate around buses that stop to take on / drop off passengers. As a major bus route, residents worried traffic would back up behind buses
• parking congestion – parking is at a premium in the square and cars often pull up as far as Maple to visit commercial businesses. In addition, some residents from outside the neighborhood park on Central Avenue, use the T to get to work, leaving their car on the street all day. Lastly, and most problematic are events at the Hoosic Club. The Hoosic Club has around 150 events a year; fund raisers, wedding receptions, birthday parties and the like. Cars parked on Central Avenue for an event at the Hoosic Club could number over a hundred. Limiting parking to one side of the street would create problems according to residents and the management of the Hoosic Club who were present at the meeting.

There were a few residents who spoke in favor of the project and the opportunities it afforded to enable their children to bike and walk to the square and the Glover school more safely. In the words of one, it could make for “a more family friendly community.”

The comments of the residents were recorded at the meeting verbatim and will be “reviewed and considered to the maximum extent possible,” according to the DOT notice.