by Frank Schroth

The Traffic Commission met yesterday morning, and two of their agenda items concerned Lodge Street. The first was a continuation of a discussion regarding increased traffic and the resident concerns that raised. The second was an explanation by Marvin Gordon of his decision to gift property to Beth Shalom of the Blue Hills for construction of a synagogue with access of Lodge Street. He specifically addressed the reasons for putting access to the proposed temple off Lodge Street rather than Gun Hill Street.

John Thompson, a member of the commission and employee of the DPW tasked with traffic issues, reviewed the results of a traffic counter that had been placed on Lodge Street to measure traffic volume and speed. The data indicated that the overall volume is not exceptionally high, nor is the speed excessive. However, one data point jumps out that accounts for the neighborhood concern: cut through traffic is exceptionally high for afternoon/early evening rush hour.

Commuters cut through Lodge Street to avoid traffic back up on Reedsdale that is making its way to Rt 128 and 93.

Chief Wells speculated about the relatively sudden increase in traffic. One possible explanation is use of GPS devices which can route drivers around traffic conjestion. However, he doubted that could be the sole cause of increase.

Joe Lynch, a member of the commission and Director of the DPW, recommended having the Department of Transportation do an assessment of the Randolph / Reedsdale intersection to determine if the timing of the traffic signal is properly optimized. He noted the traffic counts on Lodge Street supported the concerns of neighbors but that it would be “hasty to do anything before a DOT assessment.”

Mr. Gordon reviewed with the commission a set of metrics he had collected regarding widths of intersections Gun Hill and Lodge Street with Pleasant Street and other characteristics. He said that he “may seem to be stubborn” on the issue of access to the proposed temple site “but I am not.” Mr. Gordon believes it is the best solution for the town, the neighbors and the temple. He made a number of points including but not limited to:

• the temple would be closer to his house than any other property
• he does not believe that the presence of the temple will result in a decrease in property values
• Gun Hill is a very narrow street without sidewalks and can become treacherous in winter weather.
• he intends to keep the balance of property (~8+ acres altogether) not gifted to the temple as green space with deed restrictions
• there will be no bingo, games of chance, or education other than that associated with the temple (note – Temple Shalom had provided space to The Campbell School)

Gordon concluded saying “I have no prejudice against Gun Hill. [I just] think it is a bad idea and Lodge is a lesser of 2 evils . . . [there is] a huge magnitude of difference.”

Chief Wells then spoke. He said he had received many letters and “visits to my house” regarding the issue. He went and visited every house of worship in town and said the majority are built into neighborhoods. “I do not see a public safety issue here,” he said. He went on to say he had been to many places in the world and each time he came back to Milton had an appreciation for how special it is. He noted that in times of trouble “the congregations of worship that are the first ones to stand up.”

Chief Wells said, “I think it [the temple] will have a better impact . . . that in the long run it will only make the community a better place.” He closed saying that this was “not a voting issue, but I felt I had to say something.”

A resident spoke at the end reiterating that the neighbors did not view this as a NIMBY issue, that they value diversity, but that they do have traffic concerns regarding the temple development. Specifically, parking and an idea floated that the temple might use a shuttle bus service to ferry congregants. She said the dialogue would be ongoing and asked that a thorough traffic plan be developed.