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HomeMy Public PortalAboutWatertown Complete Streets Update Memo_201805111021147030MEMO To: Matt Shuman PE, Town of Watertown From: Phil Goff and Charlie Creagh (Alta Planning + Design) CC: Laura Wiener and Gideon Schreiber, Town of Watertown Date: March 16, 2018 Re: Complete Streets Prioritization Plan project table Draft Project List at the Feb. 28 Public Meeting This memorandum highlights the alterations made to the draft prioritized list of Complete Streets recommendations for the Town of Watertown, presented at the second public meeting held on February 28. This represents one more step towards submitting a townwide Complete Streets Prioritization Plan to MassDOT. The goal is to submit a plan containing a minimum of 15 projects to MassDOT that are eligible for Tier 3 funding. The Town could then apply for a maximum of $400,000 in competitive grant funding per year. MassDOT is currently in year three of five for the appropriations. Over 100 potential projects were identified by residents and staff either at the first public meeting held on December 14, 2017, at stakeholder meetings, or through the web survey set up for the project. At the February 28t" meeting, the Alta team highlighted the methodology used to narrow down this broader list into a more - manageable list for further evaluation. Town staff explained that many of the projects related to the installation of granite curbs and concrete sidewalks on particular streets. The Town currently has a program to install curb and sidewalks as part of its annual road reconstruction program, which is funded by the Town Council. These types of projects were not prioritized further unless the particular street was part of a school walking route. Many other requests were location -specific or deemed to be low cost "maintenance" type items that could be incorporated into the Town's annual sidewalk -repair and line -striping programs, and therefore were not prioritized further. The Town intends to consider the original project list as it develops its annual repair and reconstruction programs so that many of these requests can be implemented outside of the Complete Streets program. Requests related to parking enforcement or miscellaneous signage would not be eligible for funding as part of the MassDOT program and were also not prioritized further. Using this process, the original list was reduced to 33 projects which were then scored and ranked based on several evaluation criteria developed by the Town. The criteria included: 1) level of safety improvement provided, 2) connectivity to other facilities, 3) proximity to schools, 4) potential to attract a variety of users, and 5) impact to vehicular operations. Additional consideration was given to projects along transit corridors. The Town then established "high ranking" projects, using a threshold score of 18 points (out of a maximum of 23), resulting in 19 "high ranking" projects. At the public meeting, Alta highlighted the 19 high-ranking projects. Much of the feedback focused on the 19 projects that scored well, and on others that failed to make the cut. There were comments related to the scoring process and the detailed scores. The team indicated that there was some subjectivity to the scoring and that the scores should be considered relative, rather than absolute. Other concerns related to the inclusion of projects that are already scheduled for funding or projects that are larger corridor projects rather than smaller, focused projects. There was an interest in including projects that had not previously been identified or programmed by the Town on the list as well. After the meeting, the Town subsequently posted the list of 33 potential projects, along with the original list of 133 project ideas onto the Watertown Department of Public Works web page (http://www.watertowndpw.org/Pages/construction/CompleteStreetslndex). This list has been available for public viewing since March 2 (along with a map of the project locations and a PDF copy of the Powerpoint presentation made by Alta at the 2/28/18 meeting). Changes to the Priority Project List Since the Feb. 28 Public Meeting Based on the feedback from the February 28 meeting, the Town made some revisions to the prioritization plan. While the Town did not change the scoring or ranking of the projects, in some instances, additional project descriptions were added to provide the level of detail required by MassDOT. To address the concerns related to prioritizing projects that already have potential funding sources, the Town changed the threshold for what constitutes a high-ranking project. The revised list includes those that have scored 16 or more, rather than 18 or more. This alteration added four additional projects to the draft prioritization plan. These projects are smaller in scope than some of the other corridor projects on the list and also add additional diversity to the types of projects on the draft list. Additionally, the recommended project on Watertown Street was split into two projects to reflect the fact that one of the three intersections recommended for pedestrian safety improvements has already been designed and is therefore "shovel ready". The relocated and improved crosswalk and new ADA-accessible ramps at Theurer Park could easily be submitted to MassDOT for 2018 Complete Streets Tier 3 funding. The attached table includes the updated list of 24 potential projects recommended for inclusion in the Town's Complete Streets Prioritization Plan that will be submitted to MassDOT. Note that annual grant requests can only include a maximum of five projects that do not exceed $400,000 combined (funding for larger projects may come from supplemental sources, however). The maximum five-year program is very competitive, so there is no guarantee that projects submitted for Tier 3 funding will be funded. Nevertheless, this list, and the larger one from which it derives, can be used for future planning purposes by the Town. 12 Watertown Complete Streets Prioritization Plan Project List I March 15, 2018 1 Final Draft # Evaluation High '0 Project Type Street Name Extents Project Description Source Score: (Max: Scoring $$ 23) Projects: 0. (Score >=16) Implement recommendations of Arsenal Street corridor study. Include: bike lanes, Corridor Wide Louise Street to Greenough gateway improvements, and transit 1 Improvements Arsenal St. Blvd. improvements. Town 23 X Reduce crossing distance, improve bus stop connections, add bike facilities where Crossing necessary, traffic lane delineation and 2 lImprovements I Watertown Sq. Entire limits. wayfinding signage. Town 22 X Provide road diet where warranted, enhanced/improved bicycle accommodations, left turn lanes at selected intersections, ADA compliant bus stops and $14.2M (per intersections including signal equipment, TIP) curb extensions at selected locations to shorten crossing distances for pedestrians with enhanced signage, wider sidewalks, additional green spaces along the road and 3 Traffic Calming Mt Auburn St. Patten St to Cambridge line. stormwater management infrastructure. Town 21 X Improvements include: 1) At Louise St / Paul St: Construct curb extensions to reduce crossing distance, stripe high visibility crosswalk and install activated flashing beacons; 2). At Irving St: Extend westbound bike lane through intersection via green skip lane striping. 3) At Alfred Rd, N Beacon Ct, Ladd St, Royal St, Paul St, Palmer St, Bay St, and at each commercial driveway: Extend existing bike lane east - Corridor Wide From Charles River Rd to bound across intersections using dashed Online 4 Improvements 1N Beacon St. Main St. green skip -lane striping. Survey 21 X Install roundabout at Orchard Street, Church Street and Common Street intersection. Provide bike lanes and shared use markings. Provide signalized intersection at Spring Street and Common $1.9M Street. Consolodate crosswalks. Provide WorldTech Common St: Mt Auburn to raised table at Columbia Road and Russell Orchard St. Columbia St: Ave. intersection at high school entrance. Common St to Robbins Rd. Provide 5' minimum width sidewalks along Corridor Wide Common Street Spring St: Common St to Common Street. Install contra -flow bike 5 1 Improvements corridor Marion Rd. lane on Marshall Street. Town 21 X Arsenal St at Irving St to Implement recommendations of Community Shared -Use Watertown Taylor St. to Mt. Auburn. Path Study; coordinate with Watertown 6 Path Community Path Taylor Street: entire extent. Square improvements. Town 21 X Relocate Watertown Street crosswalk between Theurer Park and Pond Street to lie at the east side of Theurer Park; include ADA-compliant pedestrian curb ramps, curb Crossing extension on the north side and a flush, 7 Improvements Watertown St. At Theurer Park textured pedestrian refuge island. Town 21 X Reconstruct intersection of Main St. and Waverley Ave./Myrtle Street including ADA compliant accessible ramps and signal equipment. Extend bike lanes from current $1.SM terminus to Thaxter Street. Remove and WorldTech + replace sidewalks and install ADA Watertown compliant accessible ramps at each cross street. Consolidate crosswalks between Whites Ave. and Chestnut Street and provide activated flashing beacons. Privide Corridor Wide ADA compliant bus stops. Provide curb 8 Improvements Main St. Bacon St to Church St. extensions at side streets. Town 20 X Riverside St from the Perkins Install granite curbing, remove and replace Safe Pedestrian School to Irving St and Irving sidewalks. Provide ADA compliant Access to Riverside St & St from Riverside St to N accessible ramps at intersections. Add 9 School Irving St. Beacon St. street trees. Town 20 X Build two curb extension that help to "T-in" the two acute intersections and relocate the Crossing crosswalk to lie in the center of the two 10 Improvements Church St. At Marion Rd. newly -offset intersections. Town 19 X Install granite curbing, remove and replace sidewalks. Provide ADA compliant accessible ramps at intersections. Install Safe Pedestrian additional advance crosswalk warning Access to Entire extents (Longfellow Rd signage at Copeland Street. Add street Online 11 Schools Highland Ave. to Lexington St) trees. Survey 19 X Install raised crosswalk with activated flashing beacon at existing crosswalk to Crossing At existing Cuniff School Cuniff School main entrance opposite 247 12 Improvements Warren St. entrance mid -block crossing. Warren St. Town 19 X Shared -Use Watertown Winter to Whites Ave., Widen existing 5' walkway to create a 10' 13 Path Community Path through Saltonstall Park wide shared -use path. Town 19 X 1) Remove existing diagonal parking striping, 2) Re -orient and stripe diagonal parking in opposite direction, 3) Stripe the extension of the Watertown Community In Municipal Parking Lot: From Path along the edge of the parking lot, Baptist Walk to Winter St @ infilled with green, 3) At Spring St, Church Shared -Use Watertown Saltonstall Park. (Roughly St, and John Sonny Whooley Way, stripe 14 Path Community Path 1,250 feet.) crosswalks for path users. Town 19 X Install crosswalk across Main, and connect to town -owned easement in parking lot on Watertown From parking lot at south side of Halfway Cafd. Construct 10' Crossing Community Path: Main/Bacon St to Waverley, wide asphalt shared use path from Main St 15 Improvements Main St. Crossing off road past Moxley Park. to Waverley Ave at Moxley Field. Town 19 X Watertown Community Path: Install raised crosswalk and activated Crossing Whites Ave. At Watertown Community flashing beacons at the Community Path 16 Improvements Crossing Path crossing. crossing of Whites Street Town 19 X Install granite curbing, remove and replace sidewalks. Provide ADA compliant accessible ramps at intersections. Provide curb extensions at intersections for traffic Corridor Wide From Belmont Street to calming. Add bicycle shared lane 17 Improvements I Waverley Ave. Orchard Street markings. Add street trees. Town 19 X Install granite curbing, remove and replace sidewalks. Provide ADA compliant Safe Pedestrian accessible ramps at intersections. Provide Access to a raised table/crosswalk at Whites Ave. 18 Schools Summer St. Waverly Ave to Mt. Auburn St. Add street trees. Consultant 18 X Improvements include the installation of curb extensions and activated flashing beacons at the existing crosswalks between Morse St and Belknap Ter, and at 95 Watertown St (at Casey Park). Stripe Crossing shared lane markings from California St to Public 19 Improvements Watertown St. See box to right. the town line. Meeting 1 18 X Remove asphalt sidewalk and replace with Safe Pedestrian Forest St: Summer St to concrete sidewalk. Install curbs as needed. Access to Forest St. + Springfield St. Springfield St: Install ADA-compliant pedestrian curb Online 20 School Springfield St. Forest St to Fitchburg St. ramps at each cross street. Survey 18 X Crossing Install activated flashing beacons across Public 21 Improvements California St. At Fifth Ave. California St at existing crosswalk. Meeting 1 17 X Russell Ave: From Mount Remove ashpalt sidewalk and replace with Safe Pedestrian Auburn St to Columbia St. On concrete sidewalk. Install curbs as Access to Russell Ave. + Columbia St: From Russell necessary. Install ADA-compliant 22 School Columbia St. Ave to Robbins St. pedestrian curb ramps at Columbia St. Town 17 X Install curb extensions and stripe new high visibility crosswalk at Greek Orthodox Church at Merrifield Ave. Stripe bike lanes Entire extents, from Mt Auburn and enhanced shared lane markings where 23 Traffic Calming Bigelow Ave. St to Nichols Ave. space does not allow for bike lanes. Town 16 X Establish formal path connection: Stripe bike lanes OR enhanced shared lane markings along Stanley Ave. At existing sidewalk terminus near JCD School, stripe a pedestrian lane (due to existing bio-swale / rain water retention area: sidewalk infeasible) that directs users to existing asphalt shared use path. At Pleasant St: (opposite Paramount PI) Remove metal barrier gates, install bollards, stripe high Shared -Use Entire extents, and through to visibility crosswalk, install activated flashing 24 Path Stanley Ave. Pleasant St. beacons. Consultant 16 X