TSO Proposes Alternatives to Four Roundabouts on South East Street

Report on the Meeting of the Town Services and Outreach Committee, October 10, 2024

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Andy Steinberg (Chair, at large), Bob Hegner (District 5), Hala Lord (District 3), and Jennifer Taub (District 4). Absent: George Ryan (District 3)

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager), Guilford Mooring (Superintendent of Public Works)

The Town Services and Outreach Committee (TSO) of the Town Council was tasked with reviewing the proposal for traffic modification around the soon-to-be-built new elementary school at the Fort River site. CDM Smith Engineering firm developed a plan that created roundabouts at both the Main Street and Route 9 intersections with South East Street, as well as smaller roundabouts at each of the two entrances to the school. Several councilors were unhappy with the four roundabouts in a few blocks and questioned the safety for school children walking and biking to school

The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) and Disability Access Advisory Committee (DAAC) also questioned the safety of the roundabouts. The committees pointed out that with the existing stoplights at the major intersections, traffic is stopped from all directions to allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross. With roundabouts, traffic is constantly moving, albeit at a slower speed. This presents a special hazard to children who are not as visible to motorists and may not be as careful as adults crossing the street.

The DAAC asked if alternative pathways to the school could be created off of the streets. Town Manager Paul Bockelman said that a path to the school from Main Street already exists and he hoped one could be created from Belchertown Road, although there is a stream that would need to be crossed from that direction. He noted that the town does own land nearby, where the Fort River community gardens are located. Jennifer Taub thought that people walking and bicycling would try to use a shortcut to the school anyway, so it would make sense to formalize a path.

Bob Hegner suggested making that portion of South East Street one-way going north and having buses and cars only be able to turn right out of the school parking lot. With that arrangement, he said, the middle two roundabouts would not be needed. He thought Old South East Street on the other side of the East Common could be used for southbound traffic. It is already one-way going south, but it does not extend all the way to Route 9. Ideally, Hegner said, the Main Street roundabout could connect the two parts of South East Street.

In public comment Jeremy Anderson said that he and TAC member Chris Lindstrom participated as fellows in a National Walking College, a group that promotes walking, biking, and rolling safety from an engineering and historical perspective. As a project, he designed a plan for multimodal access to the new school.  He said he will forward his design to the town. He also suggested reducing the speed limit in the school zone for the entire school day, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., not only for an hour at drop off and pick up times.

Maria Kopicki was also concerned about the safety of the roundabouts for school children. She noted that the consultants were only asked to consider roundabouts in the design, not other traffic configurations, and that those active in the Saft Routes to School program and area residents were not involved in the design process. She also felt that with the bid for the elementary school coming in $5 million under budget, the excess money from the 2023 debt exclusion override should be returned to the taxpayers after completion of the school and not used for road construction. “People voted to raise their taxes for construction of the school and improvements to the site, not for road construction,” she said.

TSO Chair Andy Steinberg said that he will compile the suggested changes in design and the questions and concerns raised about the changes to South East Street and set up an in-person meeting of TSO with members of the DPW and TAC. When a more definitive design is developed, there will be a public meeting held for the public to weigh in. Optimally, the road construction will be complete by the time the school opens in September of 2026.