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Home My Public Portal AboutInformational Presentation - Agenda 7aMichael J. Driscoll Town Manager TOWN OF WATERTOWN Office of the Town Manager Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6465 Fax: 617-972-6404 www.watertown-ma.gov townmgr@watertown-ma.gov To: Honorable Town Council From: Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager Date: November 5, 2009 RE: Agenda Item — Informational Presentation Enclosed please find correspondence from Gerald S. Mee Jr., Superintendent of Public Works regarding Coolidge Square Improvements, Reconfiguration of Mount Auburn Street Traffic and Reconfiguration of Main Street. I respectfully request an Informational Presentation on these issues be placed on the November 10, 2009 Town Council Agenda. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. cc: Traffic Commission Gerald S. Mee Jr., Superintendent of Public Works Edward P. Deveau, Police Chief Steven Magoon, Director of Community Development & Planning Phyllis L. Marshall, Town Treasurer/Collector Thomas J. Tracy, Town Auditor TOWN OF WATERTOWN DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 124 ORCHARD STREET WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS 02472 Tel: 617-972-6420 Fax: 617-972-6402 TO: Michael J. Driscoll Town Manager FROM: Gerald S. Mee, Jr. Superintendent of Public Works DATE: 5 November 2009 RE: Coolidge Square Improvements Reconfiguration of Mt. Auburn Street Traffic Reconfiguration of Main Street Coolidge Square and Mt. Auburn Street We are already studying improvements for the Coolidge Square area. The next phase for Coolidge Square will be to secure funding for the design aspect and ultimately, to secure construction funding at the local level. The Town Council recently passed the attached Resolution 2009-61 requesting a reduction in traffic lane configurations on Mt. Auburn Street and this issue was placed on the agenda of the Traffic Commission for its 28 October 2009 meeting. The Traffic Commission voted to recommend a traffic analysis of the corridor. Modifications to traffic patterns, such as lane configurations, will necessitate modification of a traffic control agreement with the Massachusetts Highway Department required many years ago for the reconstruction of Mt. Auburn Street with state and federal monies. Requests for modification will have to be supported by an analysis of the traffic flows, i.e., a new traffic study. My recommendation is that we look at Mt Auburn Street in its entirety as a corridor by performing a study that would benefit a long term corridor project. Given the difficult financial times, I would suggest we approach the reconfiguration of Mt. Auburn Street and the Coolidge Square study by combining the two projects. I would further recommend that we align the Coolidge Square study and the potential study of the Mt. Auburn Street Corridor to meet the requirements of the transportation improvement program. This would allow us to • Achieve cost savings by performing these two studies as one project for a consultant; • View the reconstruction of the corridor as a single project; • Apply for state and federal transportation monies, secure state funding for engineering design and federal transportation dollars for construction. Supporting reasons for this approach are: • Construction projects such as Coolidge Square and Mt. Auburn Street carry a substantial price tag. 1:1AIIData\Town Manager\Coolidge Square and Mt. Aubum Street rw.doc • Mt. Auburn Street is eligible for federal transportation funds. • We have substantial needs for local roads which are not eligible for federal transportation funds. • In these difficult financial times it would be prudent for the community to pursue use of alternative funding instead of local funding wherever possible. In the past, the Town has utilized state and federal transportation dollars to reconstruct Galen Street, Watertown Street, North Beacon Street, and Pleasant Street and we have utilized PWED (Public Works Economic Development) funding for Arsenal Street. The two part process uses State funds for engineering design services and federal funds for construction. State funding programs often require placement of a project on the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). It is my sense that aligning the studies will not preclude the community from taking action on requested improvements during the lengthy time frame that is frequently involved with federal transportation projects. In fact, I believe the supporting information from the study would allow the Town to perform interim safety improvements in Coolidge Square and the Mt. Auburn Street corridor itself, therefore meeting the Council's concerns while at the same time utilizing all data collected, past and present, to support a full scale transportation project. 1 would also suggest that the study be funded with Chapter 90 State Aid funds as this is an acceptable expense and is commonplace as all the other above mentioned arterials have utilized state aid funds for analysis and design. Naturally, we will look to reduce the overall cost and time frame utilizing already existing data from the Coolidge Square study. An analysis such as the one we propose to undertake usually requires a substantial amount of investigation of traffic volumes, patterns, accident history and multiple traffic counts, therefore it is anticipated that the analysis would range in time frame of approximately six to nine months time. It is difficult at the present time to definitively assess the costs associated with this study as the scenario has not yet been finalized. We will solicit hard numbers for whatever scenario is approved. At the Traffic Commission meeting I stated that my estimate of the cost to perform the analysis would be between $ $100,000 and $130,000. It is now possible that this cost will drop because my estimate at the Traffic Commission meeting incorporated a joint analysis of Mt. Auburn Street and Main Street. Main Street As the Town Council also discussed changes in the Main Street corridor from Bacon Street to the Waltham line 1 believe it would be most advantageous to break Main Street away from the Mt. Auburn Street corridor. Given that Main Street from Bacon Street to the Waltham line is owned by MassHighway, we could, as a first step, approach MassHighway about possibly conducting the in house design of the area, eliminating the need for the Town to expend consultant dollars to do so. Please keep in mind this is an 1:\AllData\Town Manager\Coolidge Square and Mt. Auburn Street rw.doc approach; we do not have any idea at this time if MassHighway would do so. If MassHighway is amenable to address this reconfiguration as an in house design project Watertown would receive the benefit without investing in the design. We should be prepared to keep our options open, to either work with MassHighway on the in house design or approach this as a joint venture with MassHighway with the Town assuming partial costs for the design. This Department realizes and supports the Council's concerns for improvements in Coolidge Square and the Mt. Auburn Street corridor as well as the Main Street corridor. Given the fiscal conditions across the board locally and with the State, this approach addresses the Council's concerns for interim safety improvements, i.e., Coolidge Square pedestrian improvements and Mt. Auburn Street potential lane reductions, and looks towards our future needs while remaining fiscally prudent. As we discussed at our meeting on Monday 2 November, I will be available to make a presentation on these issues at the 10 November Town Council meeting. I:\AIIData\Town Manager\Coolidge Square and Mt. Auburn Street rw.doc TOWN OF WATERTOWN Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Stephen P. Corbett Watertown, MA 02472 Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney Phone: 617-972-6470 Susan G. Falkoff Fax: 617.972-6485 Jonathan Hecht www.watertown-tna.gOv Angeline B. tounelis John J. Lawn, Jr. Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr. WHEREAS, Mount Auburn Street is a major bus route as well as a neighborhood street with many residences, small businesses, churches, an elementary school, and an assisted living facility; WHEREAS, many children and adults must cross Mount Auburn Street every day to get to school, board the bus, patronize local businesses, use the playing fields, and otherwise carry on their lives; Resolution# '/ R-2009- 6/ Elected Officials: Clyde L. Younger, Council President Mark S. Sideris, Vice President WHEREAS, there have been numerous instances of pedestrians being struck or nearly struck on Mount Auburn Street; WHEREAS, the current four -lane configuration encourages speeding and is dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as motorists; WHEREAS, a two-lane road is a safer configuration and discourages speeding; WHEREAS, the current and projected traffic volume can be accommodated by a two-lane configuration; WHEREAS, many residents, including those living on Mount Auburn Street, have expressed a strong preference for this configuration; WHEREAS, a similar reconfiguration of North Beacon Street was achieved quickly and economically through low-cost measures such as restriping and signage; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Council of the City known as the Town of Watertown supports reconfiguring Mount Auburn Street as a two-lane road allowing for extra lanes at busy intersections; and FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Co i requests that the Town Manager and the relevant Town Departments inform the ouncil what ste s they recommend taking to achieve the two-lane configuration as soon as possible. Town Council Member I hereby certify that at a regular meeting of the Town Council for which a quorum was present, the above Resat was adopted by voice vote on October 13, 2009. Valerie Papas, Council Clerk Clyde L. We Co'u cil President