2019-11-12-CEC-STM1-rpt - Laserfiche WebLink

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CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE REPORT TO 2019-1 STM toward each year's projected debt service for projects excluded from the Proposition 21/2 property-tax-levy limit, as approved by the voters; and, to a much lesser degree, for debt not excluded from that limit (i.e., funded within the tax-levy limit). Article 8:Appropriate Funding For Funds Funding Committee 25% Design Of The Route Requested Source Recommends 4/225 Bedford Street-Hartwell $1,250,000 GF (Debt) Avenue-Wood Street (multiple Bond Transportation Improvement Anticipation Notes)+ Project $1,500,000 $250,000 Transportation Approval(5-1) Management Overlay District SF (both sources require a 2/3rd vote) "To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the Route 4/225 Bedford Street, Hartwell Avenue, and Wood Street Transportation Improvement Project; and authorize the Selectmen to take by eminent domain, purchase or otherwise acquire any fee, easement or other interests in land necessary therefor; determine whether the money shall be provided by the tax levy,by transfer from available funds, including enterprise funds, by borrowing, or by any combination of these methods; determine if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to apply for, accept, expend and borrow in anticipation of state aid for such capital improvements; or act in any other manner in relation thereto. DESCRIPTION: This Article will appropriate funding to develop 25% design for a major transportation improvement project which includes minor improvements on Wood Street, four travel lanes in most of the project corridor with three travel lanes in southern portion of Hartwell Avenue, a sidewalk or multi-modal path and bike lanes on both sides of the roadways; raised center medians; safe pedestrian accommodations and crossings; and reconstruction of major intersections: Bedford Street and Hartwell Avenue intersection as well the intersection of the on and off ramps to I-95. A future request for the Town to fund through 100% design and Plans, Specifications, and Estimates would follow at a later Town Meeting. This critical funding of 25% design plans will enable the Town to stay on the state's Long Range Transportation Plan to eventually obtain external resources to fund construction costs to bring the project through completion of the on and off ramps to I-95." (Town Warrant) For more than 30 years, the intersection of Hartwell Avenue and Bedford Street, extending along the Bedford Street (State Route 4/225) corridor to the Route 128 ramps and along the length of Hartwell Avenue to Hanscom Air Force Base and Wood Street, has been identified by the Town as a problem traffic area. Increasing traffic between Bedford and Lexington, as well as more drivers accessing the Air Force Base and the Lincoln Laboratory facility on Wood Street, have contributed to ever greater congestion with unsafe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. Previous efforts to ameliorate the problem, most recently with a 2011 study of alternative configurations of the Route 128/Route 4/225 connection and the Bedford Street and Hartwell Avenue intersection, did not progress, in part because of no consensus between the State and the Town of Lexington on feasible improvements. Lexington has held a place on the State Long Range Transportation Plan, administered by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization(MPO), for State aid in the 2030-2034 time band. Given the increasing urgency of the situation, our Town Manager and Planning Department, with the support of State Representative Michelle Ciccolo, have requested the MPO to move Lexington up to the 2024-2029 time band. However, the Town is required to fund a Functional Design Report ("Report") to the 25% design level to be eligible for aid and will risk being dropped from the Long Range Transportation Plan and therefore be ineligible for inclusion in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) in 2024 if this work has not been undertaken. Completion of the Report improves Lexington's chances of receiving funding in the 2024-2029 time band. 2