When the Parks and Recreation Commission came up with a plan to install a patio on the piece of land between the General Store and the Congregational Church this spring, little did it realize another project that included a redesign of the General Store parking lot was already underway, a fact unknown even to General Store owner Scott Hayward.
The parking lot redesign is part of a larger project intended to make the town center safer for drivers, pedestrians, and bicycles. That project lay dormant for years, until a $370,000 grant from the state’s Complete Streets program, awarded in January, funded it. The town hired TEC, Inc. to do the design, which was based on a plan developed in 2015 (see Lost in Time sidebar, page 6). For the General Store parking lot, the plan specified a single entrance from Still River Road and a single exit onto Mass. Ave. south, a design Hayward had expressed concerns about years ago. When word that the project had begun reached Hayward and members of the Parks and Recreation Commission, they became involved in the design process.
Drawing of proposed patio between the General Store and the Congregational Church. (Courtesy drawing)
Since then, the two stakeholders have worked together with TEC engineers to come up with a plan that would allow two-way traffic in the parking lot by using about four feet of Parks and Recreation land that abuts the lot. The extra space would allow traffic to exit onto Still River Road while still maintaining parking spots and a patio next to the General Store, although the patio would be smaller (see patio drawing above). Fire Chief Rick Sicard has also been involved in the design discussion because of the turning radius his department’s fire trucks require.
In addition to the redesigned parking lot, the Complete Streets project includes installing a new sidewalk along Still River Road between Mass. Ave. and Elm Street. It also includes refurbishing existing sidewalks, installing ADA-compliant ramps, restriping pedestrian crosswalks, and narrowing the southbound side of the intersection of Ayer and Still River roads to shorten the crosswalks there. Shared lane markings for bicycles and pedestrian warning signs will also be installed.
Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart said work on the design will continue into the fall, and he hopes to get the project out to bid this winter, with construction to begin in the spring. Kilhart, Parks and Recreation members, and Hayward told the Press that the goal now is to reconcile the needs of all the stakeholders, as well as those of public safety officials and the requirements of the Complete Streets program.
Town center traffic: A plan lost in time
The Town Center Traffic Committee (TCTC) was created in 2015 to review and improve pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic in Harvard’s town center. The Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) conducted a traffic study paid for by a state grant and developed plans to make the town center safer for pedestrians. The study described the area surrounding the General Store as an “undefined street edge with poor crosswalks.” A plan to have a single entrance off Still River Road and a single exit onto Mass. Ave. south was created. A public information session was held to discuss that redesign, and although few people attended, General Store owner Scott Hayward told the Press he was there and expressed concern that all his customers would be forced onto Mass. Ave. south when they left the store. At that point, though, there was no funding and no design, just a drawing. Hayward said when he saw the town didn’t get the grant, he thought that was the end of it.
But the town continued to re-apply for the grant. The project faded from public view, with only brief mentions during Select Board or Planning Board meetings as applications were submitted or denied. The Town Center Traffic Committee disbanded in 2016, as it had completed the work it was charged with. Former Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rich Nota, who attended TCTC meetings and was involved in the design process, left Harvard in December 2016. Town Planner Bill Scanlan, who was heavily involved in the committee and the grant applications, left Harvard in the summer of 2018. No one took his place until Chris Ryan was hired in fall 2018 as director of community and economic development; by that time, the 2018 Complete Streets application had already been submitted by new DPW Director Tim Kilhart at the direction of the Select Board.
Mention of the Complete Streets grant award was slim to none at board meetings. Kilhart announced the award to the Select Board during his budget presentation at a Jan. 29, 2019, meeting. There is no mention of having recieved the grant in any agenda or minutes of either the Select Board or the Planning Board.
—Joan Eliyesil
