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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMassDot Meeting Minutes - April 5, 2017 (PDF)Mwin� Macca�hucp)tc Fi�rward LAA / 1 / W AV AF Mr AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV / `i Na / 1 M I- Idl 1-fi/7111A/91/ ln1 I i uaJ. i i rr cif Design Public Hearing April 5, 2017 %AII111M AT Hosmer Elementary School Cafeteria 1 Concord Road Watertown, MA 02472 For the Proposed Improvements at Hosmer Elementary School Safe Routes to School Project File No: 608004 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAY DIVISION Thomas Tinlin Highway Administrator Patricia Leavenworth, P.E. Chief Engineer PRESENT David Shedd, Project Manager, MassDOT Anthony Christakis, District 6, MassDOT Linda Walsh, Right -of -Way Bureau, MassDOT Kristopher Surette, World Tech Engineering Bill Mertz, World Tech Engineering ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 2 3 SPEAKER INDEX Name Page David Shedd 5, 9, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30,31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 Linda Walsh 8 Kristopher Surette 10, 24, 25, 26, 28, 37, 38, 39, 40, 50, 51, 52 Mike Travers 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 Bill Mertz 24, 33 Matt Shuman 27, 28, 29, 42, 47 John Foley 25, 29, 30, 31, 32 Unidentified Speaker 30 Seta Campbell 34, 35 Jessie Kneeland 35 Nathalie Tarbet 37 Lisa Feltner 37, 39, 50 Angie Kounelis 3 Edward Sheehan 44 Walker Christy 45, 47 Marian Ferro 48, 49, 50 Gail Basington 51, 52 ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 EXHIBITS Description Project Brochure Sign -In Sheet Page ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 55 - 65 .. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 P R O C E E D I N G S DAVID SHEDD: Can everyone hear me okay, we do not have a microphone. My name is David Shedd, I am the Project Manager for the project we will be presenting tonight. This is a Safe Route to School Project. I work for the Roadway Project Management Division in the Highway Division Headquarters. Just so you know your attendance at the hearing tonight is going to be formally recorded. We have a sign in sheet upfront up here, so if you have not signed in, if you could sign in before you leave tonight, so your attendance can become part of the public record. Also up here if you have not picked one up yet there is a handout that has details of the project and a little bit about the process that we are going to be going through in the design of this project. Before I get started, I would just like to introduce the panel for tonight's discussion. From the District Office District 6 we have Geri Vaton, Courtney Dwyer, and Anthony Christakis. From World Tech Engineering which is MassDOT's Design Consultant, we have Kristopher Surette and Bill Mertz and Rich. I would also like to acknowledge Representative John Heck who is here tonight and the Watertown Councilor Angie ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 Kounelis. Our transcriptionist tonight is Tammy Hillery. She is from Arlington Typing and Mailing and she will be making a verbatim transcript of tonight's hearing for the record. Also, just for the record, the hearing notice for tonight's hearing appeared in the Boston Globe on March 22, 2017, March 29, 2017, and the Watertown Tab on March 24 and March 31. A copy of the notice that was advertised in the paper is included in the handout. The purpose of the hearing tonight is to present to you the project as it stands right now at the 75% design. We are here tonight to answer any questions that you have, solicit any input that you can give us, and tell you a little bit about the project moving forward. The project is at a 75% design level. It is not complete. There are two more submittals that will come into MassDOT for review. We are expecting the design of the project will be completed by the end of the summer and we are hoping to advertise for construction before October 1 and that would put us starting construction sometime in spring. The project is funded for this federal fiscal year. The current construction cost estimate is ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 approximately $1.1 million. Federal Highway Administration is funding approximately 800 of the project through the Safe Routes to School Program. There is a small portion of the project that was ineligible for the federal funding under the Safe Routes to School Program, but it was added to the project by the town and it will be paid for by the town. This is the portion of Boylston Street from Hazel to Fairfield. Kris will talk more about that in a few minutes. Construction of the project will start approximately the spring of next year and will last about 8 months. As you are hopefully aware, the purpose of the project is to improve safety for kids walking to Hosmer. The Hosmer Elementary School has been an active participant in the Safe Routes to School Program since 2008. The school participates in bike and safety education programs every year and continually the national walk to school and bike to school. Hosmer also hosts Wednesdays, Walking Wednesdays to school. Watertown and the Hosmer Elementary School applied for infrastructure improvements through the Safe Routes to School Program Right now there are probably a hundred schools in the state that are part of the program. They applied for infrastructure improvements several years ago along with ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 dozens of other schools and they were selected based on the assessment that was done by MassDOT. They were selected to advance in this program and be awarded with funds for design and construction of this project. In a few minutes World Tech will describe the project in detail but right now I would like to ask Linda Walsh to describe the right away process. LINDA WALSH: Thank you, David. When the Commonwealth acting through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division indicated that it would accept this $1.1 million project for funding under our Federal Aid Program your municipality accepted certain responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to acquire all the necessary rights in private and public lands for the design, construction, and implementation of this project. My function is to review and recommend procedures that your municipality will utilize in acquiring these rights. The procedures used must comply with both federal and state regulations. The current design plans indicate that there are both permanent and temporary easements required. Your municipality may acquire the needed rights through a combination of donations, eminent domain, deed grants, permits or rights of entries. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 Frequently, local municipalities will appeal for donations. The donation procedures minimize the acquisition cost for your community. Although donations and/or rights of entry are not required, the property owners are entitled to an appraisal and just compensation. This project cannot be advertised until the new proposed right-of-way is secured and the Right - of -Way Bureau issues a right-of-way certificate. Affected property owners rights are protected under our Massachusetts General Laws, primarily Chapter 79. And because this project is receiving Federal Funds, the property owner's rights are further defined under Title III of the Real Property Acts of 1970, as amended. I will be happy to answer any general questions concerning the right-of-way activities during the open forum, and I will be available after the hearing to answer any specific questions you may have. Thank you. DAVID SHEDD: Thank you, Linda. Kris will now describe the project in detail for you. I just want to remind you the project is not yet completed. You will be able to ask questions and make comments after the presentation. Thank you. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 KRISTOPHER SURETTE: Thank you, David. Thank you, Linda. Welcome to the design public hearing for the improvements of the Hosmer Elementary School. First, this is a little repetitive but my name is Kristopher Surette I'm an Engineer at World Tech Engineering. This is Bill Mertz Project Manager from World Tech Engineering. Linda Walsh, Right of Way of MassDOT and Dave Shedd Project Manager, MassDOT. Let's go through and identify the key components of this project. The project proponent is the Town of Watertown. Us World Tech Engineering we are responsible for the design. We are the design engineers hired by MassDOT. MassDOT is responsible for administering the design process and providing resident engineering services. The resident engineering services are a representative for MassDOT will be out there during construction advising the contractor and making sure the design is constructed in a way that is acceptable to the plans and all the applicable design standards. Federal Highway administration is responsible for overseeing of all components of the project. First, I want to go through a little history of project outreach. As Dave mentioned MassDOT infrastructure assessment was conducted in 2012 by TEC, ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 another engineering firm. The assessment identified deficiencies and provided design recommendations to address such deficiencies. That report is on hand today and is available for reviewing. In February, we had an abutter informational meeting. I recognize some similar faces from that meeting. At that meeting, we discussed the project in detail similar as to what we are going to do tonight. We discussed key design issues, discuss schedule, it provides an open forum for abutters to discuss the project in detail. How it is going to affect their property and what implications moving forward that they will incur. As Dave mentioned Hosmer School, itself is part of the Safe Routes to School application program for a number of years now. The application was submitted by the school. They are the ones who initiated this process. They initiated the project. The program is composed of two different parts. One is an educational and encouragement portion. This part of the program needs to be conducted prior to where we are today as far as infrastructure improvements. Now the educational and encouragement program as Dave mentioned is walk and bike to school days, it is educating pedestrians about safety, ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 ridership, and health benefits. So that part of the program is required prior to these infrastructure improvements being implemented. MassDOT grouped these applications together and then the award for the infrastructure improvements was scored on a merit base. As we get into the project this is an overall project map area. You can see it is the same image that is on the boards throughout the room. Just to define the area on Boylston Street is from the Hosmer School to just past the Fairfield Street intersection. Then on Chauncey Street again, it goes from the Hosmer School just north of Hancock Street. So why do we need this project? As you can see by the pictures on the slide here the lack of physical barrier for pedestrian and vehicles is evident throughout the project. There is a lack of the curb; there is a lack of definition between the roadway and the sidewalks adjacent to the roadway. This causes a problem because cars whether it is during school or residence they approach onto the sidewalk and it inhibits pedestrians from traveling safely on the sidewalk. It is supposed to be a clear definition between the sidewalk and the roadway for drivers and ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 pedestrians and without the curbing there that creates a problem. Also, we are within a school zone. It is an elementary school. This is technically a school zone. If you go down Boylston Street or Chauncey Street there is little to no signage or pavement markings denoting this is a school zone. So the increased signage and pavement markings highlighting this is a school zone will make drivers aware that they are encroaching into a school zone, what the established speed limit is, and they will have to take precaution that they are within a school zone. For intersection geometry, many of you live local within the abutter streets. For instance, here we have on the right-hand side here; we have the intersection of Hazel and Howe Street. Access of pavement width, poor definition of vehicle travel paths, it creates confusion as to who has the right away on the streets. The pedestrians have a long crossing to get from one side of the street to the other. There are too many distractions going on for a driver or pedestrian as to the lack of clarity for drivers and for pedestrians. The access pavement width is definitely a critical issue that we are addressing as part of this project. This slide here is project goals. So what we ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 have here is we have two things. The blue is the goal and the gray text is what we are doing for remedy of that project goal. So the first, as this is a Safe Routes to School Project it is to encourage students to walk and bike to school. We are doing that through the reconstruction of the sidewalks and implementations of shared travel lanes. As you see on the boards and within the design plans, we are showing sparrows on the roadway and what those do is allows motor vehicles to be aware that they are sharing the roads with bicycles. The reconstruction proposed sidewalks with the granite curb, again, as previously mentioned, creates that separation between vehicles and pedestrians. Second, we are enhancing safety for all users. Again, the addition to granite curb and the grass strips that provide a buffer between pedestrians and vehicles. That buffer makes pedestrian while walking on the side of the road makes them feel more comfortable. Like there is a space between the vehicles and the pedestrians. It is a safety measure for the pedestrian. Next one, a clear path of travel for pedestrian and vehicles. As I mentioned the realignment of the intersection within the project corridor, in ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 particular, the Chauncey Street/Boylston Street intersection adjacent to the school. We will go into these in a little more detail as we move through this presentation but this is a poor angle. What we are doing is teeing up the intersection, making it easier for vehicles to identify pedestrians and oncoming traffic at that intersection. Again, promoting school zone awareness. We are within a school zone so we want to make sure that everybody knows we are in a school zone. We want to bring attention to drivers that we are in a school zone, what the speed limit is and to be cautious of your surroundings. So proposed improvements. The next two slides, I broke up the presentation for roadway improvements and for pedestrian improvements. So for roadway improvements, we are realigning the intersection of Chauncey Street and Boylston Street as well as the other side streets as well. We are changing some of the geometry for ease of driving and for defining the travel way for vehicles approaching the intersections. We are also doing some of the drainage improvements that come along with these geometric changes. So the drainage system within the project area will be modified according to the design. There will be ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 new catch basins with sumps to help with some environmental compliance issues. So the reconstruction of the drainage system is ancillary to the proposed geometric improvements. For pedestrian improvements, reconstruction of the sidewalks are granite curbs and buffer strips. Construction of bump outs and crosswalks, this is a big thing. What a bump out is it reduces the crossing width at the intersections for pedestrians. So it allows pedestrians not only to reduce the crossing widths but to also veer out if there's a car parked 20 or so feet from the intersection. It allows (A) for the cars to see the pedestrian, but also for the pedestrian to see the cars coming. So bump outs are a great safety feature that are easily implemented in these reconstruction projects. All the crosswalks in the project will be ladder style, it is painted at the crosswalks at the intersection at School Street and Boylston Street will be a texturized surface. So it allows vehicles to identify that there is a crosswalk there. It is a higher visibility crosswalk within a school zone, so it makes sense to promote the crosswalk there along with some advanced signage. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 Again, this is the same picture I keep referring back to the overall picture of the project. I want to concentrate on the three boxes. These are the three major intersections within the project and we are going to go through them one by one, left to right and highlight each of the intersections and what we are doing to each of them to answer some of the questions and what our design intent is. The first one is the intersection of Chauncey Street and Boylston Street. The Hosmer School is up in the top left-hand corner. This picture is a before -and -after. It is the same view in each slide and we superimposed our design onto the aerial image. As you can see in the before picture the skew of Chauncey Street comes into askew on Boylston Street. What we did is we straightened that up, again, like I said, it is a safety feature. You're coming into an intersection and it is askew you have to turn over your shoulder, look, and it is difficult to identify cars and pedestrians coming. Teeing this intersection up making it a 90- degree approach makes it easier for vehicles to see oncoming traffic and pedestrians so close to the school. Again, as we talked about bump outs, this is an example of a bump out. It is about 4 or 5 feet off of the curb line. Again, it allows pedestrians to ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 peek out over the cars and it shortens the crossing distance across Boylston Street and at any of the crossings. So it is a nice safety feature so close to the school. Next, is the intersection of Boylston Street, Hazel Street, and Howe Street, again, like I talked about the excess pavement and the existing condition. What we did we change some of the geometry of Hazel Street and Howe Street, so they tee into one another. This allows vehicles to know who has the right of way on these streets and to make sure that people on Howe Street will stop there and that allows people on Hazel Street to pass through. Hopefully, it will alleviate some driver confusion in this area. The reduction of pavement width allows for some green space here so it is good for recharge and again for storm water treatment. It is less runoff going into the drainage system itself. Then as you can see here, we do have a wheelchair ramp going across the street. Throughout the project at any intersection, we are reconstructing all the wheelchair ramps to current ADA compliance with the tactile warning panels to make sure that we are ADA compliant throughout the project. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 This is the intersection of Boylston Street and School Street. Again, we are showing bump outs at the intersection shortening the crossings and then this textured area here is what I previously mentioned, it is the textured crossings. Again, providing a visual queue for drivers approaching this intersection. School Street is a heavily traveled street, so we want to highlight the crossings there. We do that with the textured surface with advanced signage to make sure that people know there is a crossing here and to be aware of your surroundings. Going back to the slide, I want to focus on the cross-section view. So basically looking down the street at a driver's eye what that is going to look like. I highlighted three different areas here A, B, and C. So to visualize this we had to do a little exercise here. Pretend you're standing in the street looking up the street, pointing to the arrows. So you're facing the street looking up the street looking at the arrows. So that is how are going to look at the next few slides here. Again, we are going to go A, B, and C. So slide A is on Chauncey Street adjacent to the school. We are looking up Chauncey Street going away from the school. The existing condition here we ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 have two 17-foot travel lanes, sidewalk on both sides and then a varying grass strip. So the key here is the lack of the physical barrier between the road and the sidewalk. In our proposed design, we have two 10- foot shared lanes, shoulders on each side of the road for parking and then a sidewalk on each side of the grass strip on the right side traveling northbound. Section B is Boylston Street, I believe that is before the intersection on Hosmer Street, so in this area right now there are two 18-foot travel lanes, a sidewalk on both sides varying width with a grass strip heading eastbound. The proposed condition, again, two 10-foot shared lanes, shoulders on both sides and then sidewalk with the grass strip traveling westbound and a 5 '-� foot sidewalk traveling eastbound. Section C is on Boylston Street heading towards Fairfield Street. So again existing condition two 18-foot lanes and we are doing one 12-foot shared lane, a 10-foot shared lane, and then a shoulder. This street is not marked. So what I am saying is we are just allocating space. Then sidewalk on both sides with a grass strip separating the sidewalk on each of the approaches. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 The project schedule, Dave highlighted this a little bit. We have completed the 25 and 750 design submittals in November. Here we are at the public hearing in April. We are hoping, we are scheduled for a fall advertisement with construction starting in the spring. So how will traffic be affected during construction? As we are, we are doing extensive pavement reconstruction. We are reclaiming the roads. So that means the roads will be pulverized. That is a granule material that is traversable but it will be some intermittent shifting of traffic using signage and police details during construction. There may be some temporary road closures while they are actually pulverizing the road but as soon as the road is pulverized, you can drive on it. If any closures would happen they would be minimal at best. Just when the actual operation is there for safety reasons. For pedestrians, as this is a school zone. All construction will be coordinated with the town with the school to make sure the construction is minimally invasive during school hours and school activities. The schedule would be conducive to the operation of the school. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 During construction, there are facilities to provide temporary ADA ramps and travel past that are still accessible towards ADA compliance that is used for construction activities to make sure those routes are still accessible during construction. Construction will be substantially completed in one construction season. So like, I said if we get this out to bid in the fall construction will begin in the spring and the majority of the work would be done in that one construction season. Our next step as a designer is to resubmit these plans. We take the feedback we received from MassDOT, from abutters, we make revisions to the plans and we are scheduled to do that again this spring. This summer we do have a tree hearing. We are removing one landscape tree on the project, so we do need to do a tree hearing with the town for that. After that in the fall, we submit final PS&E documents, plans, specs, special provisions, and estimate to MassDOT. That package is then advertised for construction. So the contractor would bid on it. The contract will go to construction when the spring comes in 2018. Here is my contact information. There is contact information in the packet. I believe this ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 presentation is up on the MassDOT website, so if you need to refer back to that you can. Thank you and like I said, thank you for being patient and we will open up to any questions and comments that you may have. DAVID SHEDD: Before we do that, I just want to explain the process and little bit. We are here to answer questions and take comments if you could please stand up and state your name and spell your last name that will help with the recording. Also, if you take a handout tonight if you leave and you think of some comments later today you can fill out the comment form and send it to me within 10 days and it will become part of the official transcript. If you want to take a couple extra and pass them out to neighbors, please do. It is also customary to ask if there any state, local, or federal officials who would like to talk first. I welcome that now. (No response) DAVID SHEDD: Okay, hearing none, I guess I will open it up to questions. MIKE TRAVERS: Mike Travers I own 3 Howe Street, 1 - 3 Howe Street. I am one of the largest abutters here getting that green space. I have several questions I don't know if I should approach the screen here? ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 23 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 DAVID SHEDD: MIKE TRAVERS: extending the driveway here? BILL MERTZ: MIKE TRAVERS: me? Sure. My house is here, you are Correct. Will this be maintained by BILL MERTZ: Yes. MIKE TRAVERS: Can I park my car there? BILL MERTZ: In the driveway? MIKE TRAVERS: Yes. BILL MERTZ: That is just basically an extension of your driveway. MIKE TRAVERS: So an extension of my driveway? So, the sidewalk runs here down to here which I maintain. I do the snow removal there. Now, this is going to be significantly extended out here, who is responsible for that snow removal? Is this still in the school buffer zone? BILL MERTZ: No. KRISTOPHER SURETTE: You're outside of the school zone, the school zone ends about right here. MIKE TRAVERS: Okay, because they do not do any snow removal here for school days. So this is a significant responsibility for me. There will be parking along the green area here on the side? ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 KRISTOPHER SURETTE: Yes. MIKE TRAVERS: Are stop signs going in here? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: Yes. MIKE TRAVERS: So this is my extended driveway to here, what is this orange across the sidewalk? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: It is just to depict that that is a driveway as opposed to the sidewalk. The wings on that are similar to the wings on a wheelchair. We have to transition from the sidewalk down to the driveway. So that is just a graphical representation of the driveway. MIKE TRAVERS: I understand, so there is a tree here it is city land. It is basically dead. I was going to ask to have that removed anyway. I assume that is going to be removed. Is there a tree hearing for that? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: Yes. We are going to go through the whole landscape throughout the whole corridor it is going to be assessed. We got comments from MassDOT and the town. We are going to go through assessing trees where we can add or have to remove trees. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 MIKE TRAVERS: There are two catch basins currently one here and one here. Are those going to be -- I assume this one is going away. Right now, you have grass covering it. KRISTOPHER SURETTE: Yes, all of the drainage basically within the gray paved area you have here all the drainage will be redone. MIKE TRAVERS: It is my experience that this will increase the activity of rodents. Do you have a rodent plan in place? I am just asking. KRISTOPHER SURETTE: No, but in what way. MIKE TRAVERS: Well, whenever I have seen in my business, construction, especially concerning sewers and catch basins it rounds up the local vermin. I have a house right here so -- DAVID SHEDD: We could add that to the project. I think maybe the town has done a lot of this kind of work so we can check with the town if that is a problem. MIKE TRAVERS: I just want to bring that up. So it is on the record. I would like to know at some point, who is going to be responsible for the snow removal for this length of the sidewalk. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 MATT SHUMAN: Hi, I'm Matt Shuman I am the Town Engineer. I just wanted to address a couple of those questions and comments that came up since they were sort of addressed towards the town. I just wanted clarification on the driveway parking. Even though it is an extension of the driveway since it is located in the right of way I don't believe that you would be allowed to park in the driveway extension. With regards to the sidewalk. The town will not plow the sidewalk in that area. As you pointed out, we will continue to not be plowing the sidewalk. However, because of the extension of the green space and the increase in green space, we would maintain the green space as we do the other green spaces around town. Finally, with regards to the rodent control. I won't speak for MassDOT but typical town contracts do require a rodent control plan. MIKE TRAVERS: That is what I thought. So let me get back to you because I see a lot of those orange spots. So my driveway is being extended, I have to remove snow from it, but I can park in it, is that what you're saying? MATT SHUMAN: Yes. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 MIKE TRAVERS: How is that fair? How big is that? What is the scale of that? Can anybody answer what the scale of that is? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: 20-feet. MIKE TRAVERS: So you are extending a 20' x 15' -- KRISTOPHER SURETTE: 15 to 16-feet. MIKE TRAVERS: Okay. So you are adding a 300 square foot responsibility that I have to remove snow from and I can't park there? MATT SHUMAN: I would defer to the zoning enforcement -- MIKE TRAVERS: You are asking for an injunction -- you are asking me, okay. MATT SHUMAN: Okay. DAVID SHEDD: Do we have any more questions? JOHN FOLEY: John Foley, 139 Boylston. With relocating the utility poles, how long? It is phone, cable, electrical how long down time for that? That is three different companies involved. How long is that? DAVID SHEDD: As part of the project. We have a meeting in the field with all of the utility companies that are on the polls that are affecting this ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 job. Utility companies they own the poles and the own the wires. They are if it is not their design they have the approval of it. I don't believe there will be any shutdown. Our utility engineer Anthony Christakis is here tonight, he can correct me if I am wrong, but there should not be a shutdown of any service, I don't believe SO. JOHN FOLEY: Of any service? DAVID SHEDD: I don't believe so. JOHN FOLEY: And what about the underground utility work, I guess? Is that sewer, gas, water -- DAVID SHEDD: The town is doing some underground work before we come out. The gas line is going to be replaced and water as well or just gas? MATT SHUMAN: Just to answer that question, we have been working with National Grid to coordinate gas replacement. That would most likely be this summer, and as part of our road contracts, the town replaces any substandard water services. So for water service is basically not copper from the water main to the property line the town will go in and replace that that will also occur this summer. If you have any questions about the water services we do have a list of which ones will get replaced. You can contact me. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 JOHN FOLEY: Regarding the curbing, there is a mix of grass strips between the street and sidewalk, and asphalt strips between the grass and sidewalk. I understand the concern with the parking on the physical sidewalk. However, if you drive around the park at Boylston Street especially east of Boylston Street, Hosmer Street cars actually park on the asphalt, which allows for more room on the street. Now if your replacing that curbing right where the asphalt is isn't that going to tighten that situation? My main concern is during the winter. Right now, some of the streets are pretty narrow, the way the cars park. When you drive down, I notice you are reducing the width of the street by 3 feet. That makes a big difference with cars parking and traveling in both directions. I go through there all the time and you have to watch all the cars approaching you making the situation really tight. Like I said, during the winter, this winter wasn't too bad, but two or three years ago we had that huge storm -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Can't hear you. DAVID SHEDD: It is definitely a little tighter, but I think we are allowing for the industry standard for lane widths in parking widths. The idea here -- with all that extra pavement, the cars tend to ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 travel a little faster and we are trying to calm the traffic a little bit and still allow for the proper amount of space for parking, lanes, and sidewalks. JOHN FOLEY: The goal of this program is to make it safe for children walking or bicycling to school. By tightening the roadway doesn't that make it a little more unsafe for them? DAVID SHEDD: I don't -- we are tightening it to the standards -- JOHN FOLEY: Reality doesn't reflect that. When people drive, when people park, some people park far away from the curb, some people park the wrong way. DAVID SHEDD: From a safety standpoint, we acknowledge that if you have a lot of pavement cars are going to go faster and speeding is going to be an issue. JOHN FOLEY: I've never really seen speeding. DAVID SHEDD: No. JOHN FOLEY: It may be occasionally here, and during school hours people tend to -- because there are more cars involved. People tend to slow down a bit. You have crossing guards there and I don't believe there ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 is a problem with speeding. The thing about it is you call the buffer zone in the school area. DAVID SHEDD: The bump out. JOHN FOLEY: The bumper area that you are calling it, so that encompasses about 20% of the kids coming into the school. So that is a small portion of it. It does not contend existing conditions. So another word you may 10% in the zone area (inaudible phrase) so nothing is really solved. DAVID SHEDD: Okay, we only have a limited scope of where we can -- JOHN FOLEY: Is this more of a need or want? DAVID SHEDD: I'm sorry? JOHN FOLEY: This whole project is it more of a want or a need? Is it truly needed? DAVID SHEDD: I think it is, yes. I think it is needed. The goal is to improve the safety for the kids walking to school, and I believe that is what we are accomplishing. So yes, I would say -- JOHN FOLEY: Do you have any general safety concerns involved? DAVID SHEDD: I have seen -- we have had a lot of these projects and you may not have seen something bad happened out there, but some of these ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 projects you do hear a kid got clipped crossing the street or something worse. A lot of the areas that we improve are similar situations to what we have out here. So you may not see it now, but there are some safety issues and we are making it better. So something like that does not happen. BILL MERTZ: The way this project started was the school approached this program because they obviously identified a need for improvement for basically kids walking to school. So as part of the assessment, the original assessment is what is the need to find a need, MassDOT, and the program acknowledges that need. They did a complete assessment of the project and identified the major pedestrian routes. The major routed where kids are walking and then go and identify the deficiencies associated with that. So you have kids walking down the sidewalk, you go out there and do an assessment you see cars parking halfway on the sidewalk and the child can't walk on the sidewalk, so they had to walk in the street. That right there is a need. So that is where the project id derived from. So it is addressing a need. Not because we want to reconstruct the streets. This is not a roadway reconstruction project. It is a safety improvement project and it is ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 33 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 really driven more towards pedestrians as opposed to making wider lanes for cars to be processed. We only have from the back of the sidewalk from one side to the back of the sidewalk on the other side. So as Chris had mentioned it is a reallocation of the space trying to accommodate all the users on the roadway, not just the vehicles. DAVID SHEDD: Thanks, Bill. SETA CAMPBELL: Seta Campbell, we are on Boylston Street right across from that big large green space. My concern is that the street is going to get narrower -- I am all for safety, I raised three kids in that house and we walked to Hosmer, first of all, over 20 years and I have never seen a safety issue. When it is narrower we park on the side of the street, a lot of people park on the side of the street to go to walk to Hosmer. They park in front of our house. If there was a car parked on one side and there's a car parked on the other side. The roads get much narrower. I am concerned for firetrucks going through it is going to be an issue. Narrowing the streets are customary in Watertown I'm seeing lately. I don't think it is going to make it any safer. I understand raising the sidewalk, 6 inches like you said. I understand that to make it ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 clearer -- the walkways need to be clear, I understand that but making the streets narrower, I do not think that is going to help the safety. It is going to create more dangerous situations. We are there 360 days year. The kids are there 180 days a year. I think we are going to be suffering from this issue. DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. SETA CAMPBELL: Also, I'm sorry, DPW plows the snow right across from the big green area they store the snow there where are they going to put it now? DAVID SHEDD: I guess they will probably put in the green area. That is my guess. SETA CAMPBELL: Then the kids can walk there. DAVID SHEDD: The sidewalk will be in the front. SETA CAMPBELL: Then you are on the street again. DAVID SHEDD: The sidewalk is in front of the green area. SETA CAMPBELL: That is going to have snow. JESSIE KNEELAND: I am Jesse Kneeland, K- N-E-E-L-A-N-D. I live one street over on Concord Road. I have a child in kindergarten and another kid will be ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 in kindergarten soon. I walk to school with my children every day and I -- in addition, we also bike quite a lot. I think concerns of individual property owners obviously, those need to be worked out, but overall this project is fantastic. I really think there is a big problem right now with these intersections that the lanes are not clearly defined. When I am biking through this intersection the cars show no respect for a bike that is trying to take the lane and use that space as we are allowed to do. I think the increased signage for bikes, the increased signage in terms of the lane designation are fantastic and I think especially the intersection of school Street is a huge problem if you're trying to cross there with kids in a stroller or kids -- holding the kids by the hand and they are trying to run away and at the same time their cars going to their 40 miles an hour routinely. I respectfully disagree with people who say safety in this area is not a problem. I have a couple of young kids right now and I struggle a lot with trying to keep control of them while also safely bringing them to school or to the playground. Or walking to restaurants in the area. So I think especially the clear definition of sidewalks is going to ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 ELI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 be really important. There's a lot of times when there's someone parked up on the sidewalk and you take the stroller out into the street because what can you do you can't actually get through. I think keeping people from parking on the sidewalk is fantastic and anything we can do to improve that is appreciated. DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. NATHALIE TARBET: I have a very easy question. DAVID SHEDD: Can you state your name? NATHALIE TARBET: Nathalie Tarbet, 191 Boylston St. This is my house right here. My question is, the sidewalk will remain, right? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: Yes, we are just reconstructing that. NATHALIE TARBET: Okay, I am delighted to see this bump out on either side, but this will become a huge snow repository because currently, the huge snow repository is up against our fence. As you come up Fairfield and you can't see around -- anyway, it is not like I'm complaining. It has to be done but it is going to be a problem. DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. LISA FELTNER: My name is Lisa Feltner. I am a Town Councilor. I was wondering if you could ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 37 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 talk a little bit about how you arrived at the design and balancing the need for green space, how this makes it safer for kids on bikes in the street and finally thinking about ADA and on street parking. I know a 7- foot width is standard, but 8-foot current ADA and given people getting in and out of cars, so if you could help us understand that. KRISTOPHER SURETTE: So the concept of the design that we see here was taken from the assessment report that was published in 2012 by TEC who was in association with MassDOT. So the basis of the design was taken from that report. What we did was using the proposed layout in that report, we took it and we said, are we addressing and pedestrian need, are we addressing the vehicular need, and are we addressing the bicycle need? Again, this is a neighborhood, they are residential streets. They are all local roads. This is a unique project that aside from School Street where we are tying into and reconstructing the bump outs at the intersection all the streets in this project are defined as local roads, residential roads. They are not collectors. They are not arterials. So it is a balancing act. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 We are implementing the safety features, but we also have to look at the fact that these roads are residential roads with a school in them. We took into consideration all these needs but we also have the limited space of a residential street. So we have the sidewalks, we have the sharrows for bicycles, we accommodate the need for parking with the shoulder, but we do have the sharrows alerting vehicles that there are bicycles present here and that we need to watch out for them. It is a balancing act with an urban residential street. We have to make sure that we are allocating space for all users and we did that to the best of our ability with the land available to us. DAVID SHEDD: The green space didn't really drive the design is all it just sort of fell out. KRISTOPHER SURETTE: It was a byproduct of the design. DAVID SHEDD: So we are creating some green space and we were hoping that we could work with the town and put some nice things in there to make it look nice. LISA FELTON: Can you explain -- did you identify bike routes to this area? Like where people are coming from on the bikes. I know it is a problem ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 and we have a lot of, especially children riding on the sidewalks. So if you could speak to -- KRISTOPHER SURETTE: The bike routes were part of the study of the assessment report. Bicycle routes were established and there was a heat map as far as bicycles coming from what areas and how many. Like I said, we took that information and we figured out how we could address that need on a residential street so we did that with the markings and signage. We are still accounting for bicycles but we have to take into consideration that these are local roads. It is a residential street that is -- we are not -- if this is a collector or an arterial street, it is a different scenario. We are trying to address -- we are trying to make a multimodal area on a residential street. So this is a very unique situation. This is the first thing that I noticed when we started this project. I was like, we are designing this in a neighborhood essentially to ensure that we address all of those multimodal needs. We did that to the best of our abilities. All of those heat maps and trip generations for bicycles was established in the assessment to MassDOT, the assessment report published in 2012. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 DAVID SHEDD: As part of the assessment the school gives us GIS data, everybody's address that goes to the school so we can figure out where everyone is coming from. In general, and that is where we concentrate on where to do the improvements. So apparently, there was a good amount of kids coming from this area going to school. So we focus on this area. The addresses don't differentiate between who is walking and who was riding a bike, but they do take counts of how many bicycles are on the bike rack and we like to do a before and after to see what the improvement is. That is determined as part of the assessment. ANGIE KOUNELIS: Angie Kounelis, District 8 Town Councilor which would be this part of the East End. First of all, thank you very much to MassDOT for listening to the concerns that were brought forward and for considering this project improvement for Watertown. Overall, I think the consensus is that this will be certainly an added enhancement for the East End of Watertown. I know that there are property owner issues and we are not going to leave anybody hanging on the downside, believe me. Mr. Schuman is here, I think Dennis is here also and Officer Sgt. Sampson the Traffic Commander we need enforcement issues. We are all going to be able to work together. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 41 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 I think MassDOT will put the project together and any individual property issues. We will meet and try to address them to the best of our ability. I have heard from residents that there might be snow that will be piled on to the intersection. So I think that is something that we need to address because that will be a sightline issue as well. If a resident has a driveway that is going to be increased by 20 some odd feet I think that is something as a community need to address as well. We are not going to leave anyone hanging. We are going to communicate. That is what this meeting is about and moving forward any other issues, we can address in- house. Is that correct? Thank you. Mr. Schreiber is here also getting from Community Development and Planning, and he reports to Mr. Magoon was the Assistant Town Manager and Director of Community Development and Planning. Thank you very much for attending this evening and voicing your comments. DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. MATT SHUMAN: Just on behalf of Public Works I would like to thank everyone for coming out. Thank MassDOT for working to move this project forward and to fund the project. I think we all know it will be a successful important project. I would like to thank ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 the Hosmer School, particularly the principal as well as the police department, community development, and planning for being involved in pushing this project forward and of providing us input as we move along. I just want to address some of the comments about the road width on the project, and I do understand it is going to be a large change for the neighborhood. I would like to echo some of the comments that Mr. Surette made regarding the road width and trying to cognoscente of these being residential streets. I'd also like to point out that the road widths are incredibly wide right now. The road widths that are proposed are actually wider than some of the street that we put back in other neighborhoods. Part of the reason for that is trying to accommodate the parking. We have really tried to balance the needs of all the users, balance pedestrian safety and parking in this design. I would also like to say that we did review the layout of the streets with the police department and that they feel comfortable with that. Snow removal came up with a couple of people and certainly, that is an issue for DPW in terms of changes ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 for us. We need to consider how our snow removal occurs. Finally, just want to point out that this is a great opportunity for beautification in the neighborhood. The curbing is great for protecting pedestrians, but it also enhances the green space and allows us to get green buffers in. You can see some really enhance landscaped areas. I think this is going to be a great asset for the neighborhood. Thank you DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. Anyone who hasn't spoken yet? EDWARD SHEEHAN: My name is Edward James Sheehan. I live at 141 Boylston. I am located right about here. This is where I live. I'm starting off with the street widths. I know I don't want to dwell on it, but so saying the street is going to be narrowed. Cars coming around here right now they have time to slow down a little bit. If there are cars parked on both sides and so when there are cars parked on both sides it is literally one-way. So you are looking at a very very short period of time for two cars to come to a halt at that specific intersection. I am guessing that is going to take place at plenty of other intersections. That is the other thing I have noticed, in other areas of town where certain residents are now ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 thinking about turning roadways into one ways because otherwise, you are playing a game of chicken where you have a two -second decision to pull over the side, and who is going to pull over. It is a logistic problem for drivers. I think it is making it a lot less safe for drivers. Other than that, go back to this gentleman, he should not have to do that. That is ridiculous. As far as plowing goes, shoveling this area, my buddy over here that is a lot of shoveling for someone. There is an elderly couple here that are not here tonight. This is their lot. That is a lot of work. These people are 80 years old. What happens when Chauncey Street -- so everything gets bumped out through here. It is pretty much becoming one ways. I think a lot of people will see this throughout different parts of town, certain streets. So that is a very legitimate concern. It does make traffic less safe for drivers. If you have someone on a bike also in this congestion it is potential for pedestrians as well. That's all I got. DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. WALKER CHRISTY: Walker Christy. I am at 54-56 Chauncey St. I have been there for 15 years. I think a lot of what you guys are trying to do makes good ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 sense. I think snow removal and lawn mowing becomes different for some of us, as Ted pointed out. I have a massive driveway which I am happy about in a lot of ways. It takes a majority of the snow from that corner so shoveling for me is the job. One of my biggest concerns and I think a fairly easy solution, I think, Matt, I know you are representing DPW here tonight but you guys have that bombardier thing that cleans the sidewalks in front of the school. This is a school zone project, that thing can rip through a sidewalk in two seconds and we are out there for hours shoveling cement. If the town is going to make an investment in improving a school zone, I think one of the things when it comes to winter and getting kids to school. Snow removal has been something that we've had to do in the snowmageddon. The truth is a storm that is more than 4 inches if you can send the bombardier out and whip it out in an hour our verses us throwing our backs out. We are happy to have the kids and try and make it a safe environment for them. But every time I shoveled the crosswalk in front of my house, and I mean every time, I go to bed at 11 o'clock at night I wake up at 5 o'clock the next morning and no lie I have hundreds ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 of pounds of snow back in my crosswalk. I try to do my best but I'll be honest with you. There are times where I am willing to throw my hands up because I have already done it four or five times trying to stay ahead of it. It is not sustainable for us is a neighborhood, I think, particularly for anybody who is on the corner to keep doing that when there is equipment out there. I would imagine it's an hour or two investment for someone with that piece of machinery to go and throw the snow out of the way. It only seems fair. I am just one -- I will ask the question for the people who are getting the large parcels of grass in front of my house at the intersection at Boylston and Chauncey over by Hazel and Boylston there. Those are going to be maintained by the town, am I correct? That was the answer I heard at the last meeting. MATT SHUMAN: I don't think we committed to doing each little grass strip there. WALKER CHRISTY: Not each little grass strip. I am talking about the large bump outs where mowing becomes significantly -- I'll tell you what if you're going to put that in front of my house mow it because I don't want to. That's it for me. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 47 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 DAVID SHEDD: Thank you. MARIAN FERRO: Marian Ferro I live basically at Ground Zero, where Chauncey comes down Chauncey dumps out into my driveway pretty much. I also grew up in that house. So I have seen big differences in this place and it seems to me everybody seems to drive their kids to school. The only time I see kids walking to school is when I see parents coming from where they parked their car. So I don't know how many more will walk and bicycle. I think a lot of parents are afraid of their kids getting snatched or something. Even though it is not a common thing. I have talked to some woman who said I know it's not common, but I wouldn't want it to be my kid. So I don't know if it will encourage more walking and bicycling, etcetera. I do think the narrower streets will cause problems. When school goes in and out I have to watch it I can't get out of my driveway. There were so many cars. It was totally clogged in. With narrow streets, I don't know about that. It is ridiculously close. I just don't know -- I don't think it's going to be helpful so much. I also had a question and I forget which person was talking about when the streets are done it is going to be down ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 to ground down or something. For those of us who live on the ground down streets, you said they can be driven on or something. Will we be able to get in and out? DAVID SHEDD: Nobody will be closed off from their house. You may be driving on gravel instead of pavement and it will be on a temporary basis it may have to be graded up so you can get into your driveway on a gradual slope, but there will be any interruption of everybody getting into their houses. MARIAN FERRO: I know it is hard to estimate but how long -- what is the amount of time you think this whole part will take? DAVID SHEDD: You mean the pavement part? MARIAN FERRO: Yes, the parts that are really -- yeah. DAVID SHEDD: It is difficult to say. Once we get a contractor on board he has the ability to generate a schedule. We have to approve it, but I would think that they will do things off the road as much as they can, like drainage and the sidewalks. Then they will have their crews come in that do the grinding and hopefully, they get the pavement soon after. I can't really tell you how long that will be. ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 MARIAN FERRO: Is there anyone who would be responsible for notifying us the residents that this is going to happen tomorrow? DAVID SHEDD: Yes, we will be -- once we have a contractor on board, MassDOT will have an engineer assigned to the project. He will be coming out to inspect to make sure everything is done according to plan. I am sure there will be either biweekly or weekly meetings that will include the town and utility companies if we are doing that kind of work, and probably the principal. Once we get to that point we will work with the town on how to get the word out when something is going to happen whether it's through a website, sometimes we put leaflets in doors. So, we will make sure. It is not that much of a sprawling area that it can't be covered easily. I am sure we will be able to figure something out. MARIAN FERRO: We do tend to fall through the cracks a lot of times. LISA FELTNER: I forgot to ask, in the evaluation I was wondering if it was determined if there is any parking lost now? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: There was no formal traffic counting as far as the comparison to before and ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 after, but we are maintaining those sections. We are maintaining the shoulder areas for people to park on. The goal of this project is not to reduce parking. There may be a few spots, people park close to the intersections now and you're not supposed to so there will be clear signage. I believe 25 feet from the crosswalk you cannot park. So that area will be defined as a no parking area. That is obviously a safety concern for people to be able to see over cars and see if the traffic is coming along. But in no way are we intending to reduce parking in the neighborhood except for immediately adjacent to some of these intersections where people currently do park. That is all. DAVID SHEDD: Anybody else have any questions or comments? GAIL BASINGTON: I have a question because I was late. What is the A, B and C? My name is Gail Basington. I live on Chauncey Street and the A is in front of my house, so I just wanted to know what it was? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: It is going to be painted there, no, no I'm just kidding. It was just a reference to a future slide that this is what -- basically, what I said earlier, is pretend you're ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 standing in the road facing the arrows and that is what the road is going to look like. It was just a reference. GAIL BASINGTON: Since I was -- I had another engagement and could not be here. Is there information for those of us who could not come? KRISTOPHER SURETTE: There is a handout here that explains the project. It explains the public hearing process, the description of the project, and the schedule moving forward. It is a good summary and I believe the presentation is on the MassDOT website as well. DAVID SHEDD: We will be around after as well. If you have questions, we can go through them with you. GAIL BASINGTON: Thank you. DAVID SHEDD: Anybody else? (No response) DAVID SHEDD: Okay, thank you for coming out tonight. We have a few things that we have to work on. We had some good comments tonight the shoveling, the grass, parking in the driveway. I will take that back and work with the town and continue on. I would like to remind you to pick up a handout and if you have any other comments please send it to me within 10 days ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 and we can still make it part of the record and that is something we can still take a look at. We are going to be here for a while. We have plans, we have the colored plans so we can answer any other questions that affect your personal property. I guess at this point I will declare the hearing closed at 8:30. Thank you (Whereupon, the proceedings were concluded on April 5, 2017, at 8:30 p.m.) ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100 53 54 Design Public Hearing Watertown, MA April 5, 2017 C E R T I F I C A T E I, Tammy A. Hillery, do hereby certify that the foregoing record is a true and accurate transcription of the proceedings in the above - captioned matter to the best of my skill and ability. Tammy A. Hillery ** All names not provided were spelled phonetically to the best of my ability ATM, INC. Court Reporting Services 339-674-9100