The committee charged with reviewing and improving pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic in Harvard’s town center met on Tuesday, a month after the traffic-flow solutions set forth in the first section of a five-part study sparked criticism in a letter to the Press and online at the social network NextDoor Harvard.
The Town Center Traffic Committee convened to discuss both the newest installment of the study—parking and traffic-flow alternatives for the area around Town Hall, Hildreth House, and the old fire station—and to receive comments on the study’s controversial first section. The study is being conducted by the Montachusett Regional Planning Council (MRPC), a regional planning agency supported by state and federal funds. The study comes free of charge to Harvard. Funding for the study comes largely from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, according to Brad Harris, the transportation director at MRPC.
Commentary on traffic-flow alternatives for the intersection of Ayer and Still River roads focused on what one participant criticized as a “traffic-centric” approach. Indeed, several possibilities included traffic circles and significant traffic re-routes that would impinge on the Common. However, Harris noted that the alternatives were not recommendations, because the intersection was nowhere near the threshold for requiring dramatic solutions. “The level of service analysis shows the intersection is working without capacity or delay issues,” he said, referring to traffic and accident data collected by his agency last spring. “The town decides what it wants to do.” Details of the alternatives were reported in the Sept. 4 issue of the Press.
Still, Town Center Traffic Committee member Billy Salter objected to the study’s process, reflecting the criticism of his Sept. 18 letter to the Press, which he said reflected his personal opinion.
“I fear we have skipped from step one to step seven [see sidebar, “Methodology”]. It is premature to discuss the traffic-flow recommendations without considering pedestrian and bicycle routes,” he said. Salter, a resident of the town center, added, “More traffic flow is not consistent with improved conditions for pedestrians.” Salter’s letter expressed the concern as follows: “We almost certainly do not want to do anything to attract more traffic; improving traffic-flow risks doing that.”
Police Chief Edward Denmark, an adviser to the Town Center Traffic Committee who attended the Tuesday meeting, noted the advantage of improved traffic flow. “It automatically improves pedestrian safety whenever any elements of chaos in traffic are reduced,” he said. Committee members learned that a 24-hour pedestrian count, taken on a Thursday in May, showed 81 pedestrians and 61 bicyclists traveling through the four-way intersection at Mass. Ave., Still River Road, and Ayer Road.
Planning Board Chairwoman Kara Minar, responding by email and in a phone conversation to criticism of the traffic-flow alternatives, dismissed the notion that some sort of rotary or roundabout would soon be necessary in the town center. “This is not a blueprint,” she said. To the criticism leveled by Salter’s letter, she wrote, “Let’s not confuse traffic flow with traffic volume. The goal was not to increase traffic volume or speed in town center but to consider ways to make it function better and be safer for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. With people pulling out from multiple spaces at the General Store onto Still River Road, or exiting onto Mass. Ave. by the bike shop, or by not having access to a network of sidewalks in the center—these are all areas where logical improvements could be made for the betterment of all.” The Town Center Traffic Committee is a subcommittee of the Planning Board.
Contested parking
Information from audience members Paul Green and Steve Nigzus—which had been conveyed to the traffic committee weeks ago—came into public view on Tuesday. Reacting to one of the alternatives that conceived of additional parking in front of the Congregational Church, Green noted, “The Congregational Church owns all land between the cemetery and the church, up to the highway.” Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Green took a plot plan that showed the property owned by the church to the Planning Board office.
Nigzus, who owns two properties abutting the Common, noted that another plan showing parking on what is often called No Name Street, across from Fairbank Street and the former library, is probably not viable. “Cemetery Street is conservation land,” he said, using the street name affixed to the property’s deed. Conservation Agent Liz Allard confirmed his assertion, noting that the property Nigzus referred to also includes the land currently occupied by a small, Mass. Ave. parking area next to Harvard Realty.
Rich Nota, director of Harvard’s Department of Public Works and an adviser to the traffic committee, reminded the group that the grassy lot adjacent to the Bromfield School’s senior student parking lot is town-owned and is designated as a public parking area. The lot, he said, is “under design” in preparation for eventual paving. It would require a footpath or sidewalk connecting it to the town center, likely leading up to the General Store and Congregational Church.
Harris agreed to incorporate the new information into the final version of the study, which was to have ceased on Sept. 30, though Harris said work would now continue past that date. Minar confirmed that the study would continue “for several more weeks” to allow time to “rework some ideas.”
Schemes sought for Town Hall and Hildreth House
Annotated aerial photos presented at the meeting showed eight possible plans aimed at improving access to and increasing parking options for the area between Town Hall, Hildreth House, and the old fire station. In response, Nota observed that the current traffic pattern, instituted to accommodate Town Hall construction, showed that eliminating the entrance to Town Hall from Ayer Road might be for the best. “We could maintain what we’ve got right now for entrance and egress,” he said. “Incoming traffic [to Town Hall] from Ayer Road isn’t a good thing,” he said, noting the speed of southbound traffic in front of Town Hall. Any plan that reduced cut-through traffic, where motorists drive through the Town Hall lot to avoid the four-way stop signal, should also be considered, Nota said.
Feedback about the parking solutions offered for Hildreth House and Town Hall resulted in a vow by Harris to return with improved plans, which will be presented at the traffic committee’s next meeting on Oct. 20. Harris said the Oct. 20 meeting would focus on parking issues. The meeting after that, yet to be scheduled, will discuss pedestrian and bicycle issues.
