Public Hearing on Hartwell Avenue Plan Scheduled

At its meeting Tuesday night, the Planning Board set a public hearing date for the Hartwell Avenue traffic improvement plan, then hammered out where it stood on a list of road improvement items.

The board in June held several meetings discussing the Hartwell Avenue plan, and took feedback from residents during a series of community meetings, ultimately deciding to table any decisions on the plan until fall because more details first need to be hashed out.

Tuesday, the board set Sept. 25 as the public hearing date, and at that meeting hopes to gather more input from residents to help shape the plan in its final stages, and gather input on decisions that are proving trickier to make.

Wood Street is one area where aspects of the plan are harder to agree on, members said, and neighbors are also split on how to best ease their traffic concerns.

Installing raised medians to calm traffic in that area would improve the situation, and some neighbors' concerns, Chairman Gregory Zurlo said.

Realigning the intersection to forbid right turns from Hartwell to Wood and left turns from Wood to Hartwell is also possible, and members are also considering whether to support adding a second sidewalk on Wood Street. Doing so may be expensive, though increased traffic in the area could warrant it for safety reasons, they said.

The board also discussed setting a mitigation fee that would not dissuade developers from coming to the area, but is high enough to help ease the town's share of paying for the project.

Funding for the $14.4 million traffic improvement plan could come largely from the state through its Transportation Improvement Program, though some improvements, including on Wood Street, may fall outside of what the state is willing to fund. The town is also responsible for design costs, and could be looking at funding $2.2 million, or more, of the project.

Members also expressed an interest in seeing updated cost estimates for the project. The board meets next on Aug. 25.