The Select Board has approved the preliminary design for the Ayer Road repaving project, which does not include the proposed roundabout at the road’s intersection with Gebo Lane. The board voted 4-1 in favor of the design at its Dec. 1 meeting.
Director of Public Works Tim Kilhart informed the board that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) had reviewed the board’s request to include a roundabout in the project but had judged the idea too costly to include. The board was left with a choice between proceeding without the roundabout or abandoning the $6 million federal grant that would pay for the repaving.
Select Board member Kara Minar voted against accepting the current design, while member Stu Sklar voted for it “very grudgingly.” The MassDOT investigation found that the roundabout would be expected to reduce traffic accidents there by 44%, which Minar argued would be worth the $1.7 million additional construction cost and the inconvenience to drivers navigating it. She also argued that the roundabout’s traffic-calming effects would grow only more important as Ayer Road becomes increasingly developed in the future.
According to Kilhart, the time spent attempting to persuade MassDOT to include a roundabout in the grant has delayed the project by about four months. The next step is to do additional engineering work to bring the project’s design from 10% detail to 25%, which he expects will be completed in the late winter or early spring of 2021. At that point, MassDOT will hold a public hearing where Harvard residents will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the project.
Residents who have questions or comments can email them to Ayer RoadProject@harvard.ma.us, where the questions and answers will be posted on the Planning Board’s website.
