Worcester Council Gives Mill St. Redesign 6 More Months As Some Push For Reversal

WORCESTER, MA — The new Mill Street will live for now following a city council vote Tuesday night, but city transportation officials will still under pressure to prove the redesign's worth.

The council voted to wait to receive six months of data on the redesigned street, which will soon be getting an update with new flexible posts.

A movement to return Mill Street to its original configuration has been brewing for months following complaints from some residents. At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman brought orders to council in May to move the street's parking back to the curb. The new design reduced Mill Street to one travel lane in each direction, with a floating parking lane before a bike lane against the curb.

The design, called a parking-protected bike lane, has proven difficult for some drivers unfamiliar with the new-to-Worcester layout.

"To me, this is simply about returning parking to the curb, where it’s natural," Bergman said during a speech Tuesday night.

Bergman's orders also came after several high-profile crashes along Mill Street, although police have not detected an increase in crashes since the redesign compared to previous years. Bergman chided members of the public who criticized drivers who have smashed into stationary objects, calling it "victim blaming."

The 6-5 vote against Bergman's order hinged on At-Large Councilor Kate Toomey, who made clear that she's no supporter of the Mill Street redesign. Toomey effectively voted against Bergman only because the city agreed to return with data on the redesign in six months.

"I can’t stand here and say I can support moving forward without some research," she said.

The vote came after about two hours of public comment, mostly focused on Mill Street. About 30 supporters spoke at the meeting, versus about five opposed to the redesign.

Supporters said Mill Street now feels much safer, and can serve as a connection between major neighborhoods for more modes of transportation. Some also observed traffic has been calmer.

One resident named Pat said he's lived in cities across North America, but Worcester was the "toughest relocation" due to how difficult it is to navigate the city outside a personal vehicle. Reverting Mill Street would set the city's progress back, and be potentially dangerous.

"Drivers in Worcester have a general disregard for human safety when it comes to vehicular operation," he said. "We must work to build a culture of respect."

Resident Mike Milligan declared there's "been enough hysteria" over the Mill Street redesign, and said the council should look at the behavior of reckless drivers rather than the new parking scheme.

"Why would a non-distracted driver crash into a car that is not moving, no matter where it is on the road?" Milligan said.

Opponents mainly picked on the new parking arrangement, which puts cars about seven feet from the curb. Many said cars now have to "park in the middle" of Mill Street. They also conjured the March death of 90-year-old Daniel Abraham, who crashed into the back of a parked car days before he died. Opponents of the redesign said Abraham drove regularly along Mill Street, and never had a problem until this year.

But several self-identified longtime Mill Street residents said that drivers crashing into parked cars — and other objects — has been happening for years.

WalkBike Worcester cofounder Karin Valentine Goins urged councilors to keep Mill Street the way it is, but also said that the city's Department of Transportation and Mobility (DTM) should be allowed to make refinements to make the road better. A full reversal, she said, would be contrary to transportation engineering best practices.

DTM, in fact, is in the process of installing flexible posts along Mill Street to better separate the parking, driving and bike lanes. Worcester has also received $2 million from the federal government to completely redesign Mill Street, a larger project that would mean new sidewalks and other amenities. The new design has been called an interim step before the future overhaul.

Even some supporters (and opponents) said there are several improvements that could be made along the street. District 3 Councilor George Russell compared Mill Street to a parking-protected bike lane near Fenway Park he saw. The one in Boston, he said, works because there are constantly cars to protect the bike lane. Mill Street parking spaces are often empty.

DTM Commissioner Steve Rolle said other cities have similar situations, where parking-protected bike lanes don't often feature too much parking. He pointed to one in New Haven, Conn., near a college that uses flex posts for delineation. Rolle said the city has already repainted parts of the street, and expects to install the new posts soon.

Alex Salcedo, a program manager in Worcester for MassBike, punctuated the Mill Street issue when she held up a stuffed elephant left behind by a toddler at a group Father's Day bike ride along the road Sunday. The stuffed animal symbolized how big of an issue Mill Street has become — the "elephant in the room" — but also the types of vulnerable people now using the new lanes: children, people using mobility devices, pedestrians and more.

City Manager Eric Batista tied Mill Street to his administration's larger project of reducing traffic violence in Worcester by rethinking the city's transportation system. He pointed to data showing that crashes have not gone up along Mill Street since the redesign, and asked councilors why there's such a focus on this one particular street. People have died and been injured in other parts of Worcester, but there's been no push to redesign those streets.

"We're trying to change a culture, and changing a culture doesn't happen overnight," he said.