Last night Howard Stein Hudson the firm retained by the town to assess the parking issues in East Milton Square and offer proposals for resolving them held a 3rd and final hearing for the public and presented a range of possible solutions. They ranged in terms of time frame, complexity, and price tag and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Milton’s Planning Director Bill Clark began the session with an emphatic statement that the town was not going to be acquiring anyone’s property; not by purchase, eminent domain, or any other means. This had been a concern voiced at an earlier session of the Business and Citizens Advisory Committee and Clark was looking to assure people that the issue had been put to rest.

There were essentially three plans that Keri Pyke from Howard Stein Hudson presented. The first which could be done quickly and calls for little investment was a curbside management plan. This plan calls for better, more consistent signage regarding parking spaces and wayfaring (i.e. directing drivers to available parking areas) improvements. It also calls for stricter enforcement of parking limits. Without enforcement 2 hour parking becomes all day parking.

The second plan that would take 12 – 18 months and call for some investment was characterized as a hybrid plan as it was a melding of two previously reviewed proposals. The hybrid plan involves closing off part of Adams street, making it one way over the Expressway in an eastbound direction. Westbound traffic would be routed around the current park area which would be developed into parking lots. Here is a draft of the concept:

This plan also calls for moving and or modifying pedestrian crosswalks (white bars in above diagram) and signal lights. The memorials that are currently in the park would be preserved. This plan would add ~50 parking areas to the square.

The third, long-term plan calls for zoning changes to homes on Mechanics street and Bassett street. The proposal is for an overlay that would enable the first floor of those homes to be zoned for retail or professional space.

Lastly, Pyke also presented a couple of options for adding an exit ramp for Exit 11 of the expressway to allow traffic exiting to go south. Currently there is only an exit for northbound traffic all of which goes down Granite Avenue. Drivers would need to go north or west have to then circle back over the expressway and head up Bryant or west on Adams.

After the presentation by Ms. Pyke, several residents spoke. Two of the speakers who lived on Grafton Avenue. Their primary concern was with traffic and what impact changes might make to traffic flow. Ms. Pyke noted that traffic was like water. When detoured from one area it flows into another. Bill Clark said that traffic was out of the scope of the document but that town officials were very cognizant of the issue and would be attentive to it. Both Chief Wells and Selectman Bob Sweeney were in the audience.

A former, long time Town Administrator (33 years), John Cronin also spoke and reviewed the history of the square and various initiatives to deal with parking that had taken place over the last 80 years. Mr. Cronin, who was also a former Chairman of the Park Commissioners noted that Milton is a residential community. It’s three small seats of commerce grew up from railroad villages that emerged 15o years ago. They are Milton Village, Central Avenue and East Milton Square. Attempts to address parking concerns are not new. In 1933 the town rejected a parking proposal for Adams Court. Related efforts were turned back in 1069 and in 1970. Cronin stated, “The past isn’t necessarily a prologue. But merchants coming to the business districts in Milton should understand that this is a residential community and that zoning changes should not be optimistically expected.”

Mr. Cronin is opposed to the idea of putting parking on the deck and expects that the effort will encounter significant hurdles such as the 97th article of amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution which prohibits the diversion of park land for other purposes.

Howard Stein Hudson did not make a formal recommendation on which course of action to take. They will be submitting a final report shortly to the Board of Selectmen. Bill Clark noted that there is ~ $2 million in funding available to put to work once closure on a solution has been decided.

You can find all of Howard Stein Hudson’s presentations, meeting minutes, and other materials here. (Note: Last night’s presentation has not yet been posted.)