HomeMy Public PortalAboutmarch16 community pathTown Council
Town of Watertown
Committee on Public Works, Meeting January 26, 2016
Report: February 23, 2016
The Committee met at 6 pm in the Council Chambers. Present were: Aaron Dushku, Chair, Anthony
Palomba, Vice -chair; Susan Falkoff Secretary; Town Councilors Lisa Feltner and Vincent Piccirilli' DPW
Superintendent Gerald Mee; DPW Director of Administration and Finance Dennis Sheehan, Town Engineer
Matt Shuman; Gideon Schreiber, Senior Planner; Alan Cloutier from FST/Stantec Engineering, and resident
Martha Hamilton.
Community Path
The committee discussed progress toward a design for the Community Path which will connect Irving Street
to Saltonstall Park.
Mr. Cloutier presented possible routes.
For the eastern section, from Irving to Mount Auburn Streets, he proposed two alternatives: 1) Taylor Street,
requiring some reconfiguration of the road, and 2) the former railroad bed, which is currently impassable
because the bridge was filled in. The second alternative would also lead to loss of parking spaces behind
Dunkin Donuts and would pass through multiple other privately -owned parcels.
The drawings from Mount Auburn Street west could be divided into sections and could be implemented in a
mix and match manner.
1. Baptist Walk: the path could go to the north, the south, or where the island exists in the middle.
2. Through the CVS/municipal Parking lot: several alternatives were presented for this section, some
of which would involve completely re -configuring the parking spaces.
3. Church Street to Sonny Whoolev Way: through the town -owned fire station parking area or along
Winter Street and at potentially sharp angles around a privately -owned multi -family house.
4. Library parking lot: the path could go to the north in the parking lot or along Winter Street (converted
to 1 -way), or on the southern side, closer to the Library or (in a "Grand Plan") connect to the Town
Hall lot in a large loop. Superintendent Mee said that this plan would be the most expensive but it
would solve problems in the existing configuration of both the CVS and other town parking lots. The
committee noted that this alternative was more "destination -oriented," i.e., it had the most direct
access to the places people might want to go. The 'Grand Plan' concept would also add more
pervious surfaces if the road between town hall and library were replaced with more natural
landscaping.
All of the alternatives would lead to some loss of parking spaces.
The drawings are available for viewing on the town website (Western Section and East-West Connection).
The next step will be to present the plans to the Bicycle/Pedestrian committee and get feedback from that
group. After that, the consultant will present a new set of drawings, in approximately three months (late -
April, 2016).
Everyone agreed that the project is "very complex."
Belmont Street Sidewalks
The Belmont Street road project ends at the Belmont town line, at Brimmer Street. At this point, the sidewalk
needs repair and the bicycle route stops abruptly. Watertown owns the sidewalk but Cambridge owns the
road and the curb. The area needs to be repaired but any work needs to be coordinated with the
Cambridge Public Works Department. Mr. Mee noted that the work was not included in the current Capital
Projects plan for either city. His department will verify ownerships of roads, curbs and sidewalks and reach
out to the City of Cambridge to address the problem. The chair asked that DPW maintain detailed
documentation of any correspondence with Cambridge and report back at a future meeting. In this manner,
the issue can be elevated to management if there is no response.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Falkoff, Secretary