Traffic, Jobs Top Concerns For Proposed Amazon Warehouse

BRAINTREE, MA — Amazon is promising jobs, tax revenue, and a $10 million investment with their proposed fulfillment center at the end of the Campanelli Drive, but others say the e-commerce giant is bringing traffic and poor jobs with them.

The planning board held the first night of a site plan and special permit hearing for the fulfillment center, to be located at 175-185 Campanelli Dr. The company plans on leasing 200,000 square feet of the space that Bradlees, Stop and Shop, and United Liquors all occupied at one point.

Michael Giaimo, an attorney for Amazon, said that the company wants to be a good neighbor and listen to residents, promising a local jobs fair and a hotline for residents to call with concerns.

“We pledge to be good neighbors. Amazon will continue to listen to and address concerns,” Giaimo said.

The proposal calls for an operation which would see about 85 employees arrive for work between 6-8 a.m. From 8 a.m. and until 11 a.m., 56 delivery service providers will arrive every 30 minutes, park their cars, jump in delivery service vans, and drive into the building for their vans to be loaded with packages. Inside, the vans will be in four lines and released line by line to make deliveries. The vans will operate within 45 minutes of Braintree, according to Amazon officials.

After 11 a.m., flex drivers, which were described as Uber-like workers, will drive their personal vehicles through the fulfillment center to pick up packages to deliver.

About 20 tractor-trailer trucks, at a rate of roughly four an hour, would drop off packages to be delivered the next day between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The landlord of the property will be required to pay for a police detail at the intersection of Campanelli Drive and Granite Street for 15 hours a week and a traffic light if it is determined that is needed.

The company said they will take measures to make sure drivers do not use neighborhood roads when asked by planning board Chairman Robert Harnais.

Despite promises to be a good neighbor, some of the current tenants in the industrial park said they had concerns with the amount of traffic Amazon will generate. Chris Iorio of Jedwards International said that traffic would only get more congested and noted that things would get worse when Petersen Pool at Braintree High School opens.

"There’s a lot of excitement about Amazon and I think some of that excitement has been transferred to this facility and I don't think it deserves it. What you’re getting is the opposite. There is very little technology in this facility," he said.

Chris Campbell said he lives near Campanelli Drive and told the board that it can take him up to 15 minutes to get from Pond Street to Interstate 93. He also criticized the project for not bringing high paying jobs to the area and noted past issues at other warehouses which were chronicled in articles by the New York Times.

Responding to criticism, Giaimo said that the company does listen to and resolve problems, citing the resolution to issues concerning reckless driving at the Dedham fulfillment center in 2016.

District 1 Councilor Charles Kokoros said he would work to make sure something is put in place to protect the nearby neighborhoods.

"We have to find a way to make sure we have stop gaps in place to make sure we don’t have a traffic nightmare," Kokoros said.

The hearing was continued to the board's July 10 meeting.

Image Credit: Dan Libon