2008-07-30-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes for the Meeting of July 30, 2008 Page 3 first priority should be the collector streets followed by the residential streets. Mr. Zurlo, who had just joined the meeting in progress, said that he would like to improve the condition on residential streets by addressing pedestrian safety along with improving the overall vehicular traffic conditions. He gave an example of someone having to wait 20 minutes to make a turn from Eldred Street onto Bedford Street, which should be improved. The overall vision for Hartwell Avenue is that it generally flows better. Specifically, the jug handle should be improved so that the maximum backup would be no more than 20 vehicles. A reasonable use of the traffic study funds may be in assistance in classifying streets by categories to determine current and desired charters as described by Mr. Canale Mr. Hornig reported that Mr. Galaitsis who was ill that evening had asked that his desire to see traffic calming be brought forward. Ms. Manz said her recollection was that the Wood Street residents seemed to prefer congestion occur during an intense short period rather than spread the congestion through a longer period, and as a result, she wondered if slowing traffic was a primary issue. Mr. Canale said the Board should consider the Mass Highway Design Guide on sub-area types and figure out what do we want the character of these roads to be. He wants to encourage vehicles to travel at a reasonable speed so that pedestrians and bicyclist feel safe. Wood Street should be considered in context of the desired character, which he feels should be low-density. Ms. Manz said that while she didn’t want to turn Wood Street into a speedway, slowing traffic might not be the primary focus, but rather it would be limiting the amount of traffic. She wanted there to be some attention focused on Hartwell, for instance how to design it to facilitate shuttles. Mr. Frank Sandy said that the most important goal is to address Eldred Street access and the ability to turn onto and off of Bedford Street. There is no pedestrian light to serve the intersection. He pointed out that motel employees who take the bus have to cross the road. He felt the state should be pressed to do something after all these years. Mr. Dick Thuma said he doesn’t know of any Wood Street neighbors who care about what happens to the FAR, only about the traffic impacts. He said that the residential character issue was important. There are people who still remember when parts of Wood Street weren’t paved. He said Wood was not a mixed category, that the commercial activities of Lincoln Lab had no business being there and that the Board should correct the inappropriate decision of past boards. He wanted a clear statement of intention