2006-02-08-PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF FEBRUARY 8, 2006 A regular meeting of the Lexington Planning Board held in Cary Hall Auditorium, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Manz with members Galaitsis, Harden, Hornig, Canale and planning staff McCall-Taylor and Schilt present. ******************************* TRAFFIC MITIGATION ******************************* Public Meeting on the Marrett-Spring-Bridge Intersection: There were approximately 40 people in the audience. Ms. McCall-Taylor welcomed them and thanked them for coming to the meeting. She explained that this meeting was a continuation of last year’s work that identified issues at the Marrett Road/Spring and Bridge Streets intersection (MSB), and explored concepts for acceptable solutions related to enhancing public safety and reducing congestion during peak travel hours. The purpose of tonight’s meeting was to narrow the options and arrive at a preferred alternative that could be used in working with MassHighway to improve the intersection. She turned the meeting over to Ms. Anne McKinnon and Mr. Thomas Stokes, consultants from Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates. Ms. McKinnon gave a more in depth summary of the work leading up to tonight’s meeting. Mr. Stokes presented the data gathered in the fall. Traffic counts showed the traffic volumes at the approaches were predictable and consistent. The average daily trips were over 13,000; Saturday experienced a lower peak during mid-day. There was a very significant peak on Spring Street in both the morning and afternoon. He compared the current counts with ones done in 1974, 1987 and 2002. Possible Improvements: Mr. Stokes said that there were certain improvements common to all the proposals. These would be installation of sidewalks, crosswalks and a pedestrian signal on Marrett Road, and relocation of the MBTA bus stop and the hydrant on Marrett. The possible improvements to be presented this evening are traffic signals, a roundabout, and geometric improvements. Traffic signals - The presence of a traffic signal at MSB would ease the delay slightly. The effect would depend on the timing, but it would probably take from Marrett and reduce delays on Spring, balancing out the delays at the intersection. The signals themselves could be on a pole or suspended over the road. They need to be within twenty degrees of the main line of vision so a pole mount could work at this location. The signals could be set to operate during off-peak times based on detectors in the road. There could be a pedestrian signal by the reservoir and the Bridge School. Roundabout - A roundabout is not the same as a rotary; it is designed to reduce speeds. The construction of a roundabout would require the taking of land in front of the historic Bridge House. Having the cross traffic from Marrett turning left onto Spring doesn’t work well with a roundabout and may cause more backups. The advantage to the roundabout is that all traffic is slowed down and coming from one direction. Geometric improvements - The roadway would be striped to have a 3-foot bike lane and an 11-foot travel way. There would be stop signs and a left turn lane from Marrett onto Spring with new pavement markings. This could make the left turn from Spring more difficult as through traffic would not be held up by queuing. Curb lines at the intersection of Spring and Bridge Streets would be extended, in effect narrowing Marrett Road at this location, allowing safer pedestrian crossing and helping to channel traffic. A further consideration would be restricting turns onto Spring, making Bridget Street right turn only. Costs of improvements - No formal estimates have been made, but geometric improvements would be the cheapest, perhaps around $300,000; the roundabout would be about the same but with the addition of the cost of the land takings; signalization would be about a half a million dollars but might be eligible for federal funding.