More Ideas for South East Street Redesign

Report on the Meeting of the Town Services and Outreach Committee, December 19, 2024

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Andy Steinberg (Chair, at-large), George Ryan and Hala Lord (District 3), Jennifer Taub (District 4), and Bob Hegner (District 5). Also, Cathy Schoen (District 1, Chair of the Elementary School Building Committee)

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

This meeting continued the discussion of possible changes to South East Street between Route 9 and Main Street to accommodate the increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic anticipated when the new 575-student elementary school opens in the fall of 2026. The December 12 joint meeting of the Town Services and Outreach (TSO) Committee with the Disability Access Advisory Committee (DAAC) and the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) raised serious conccerns about the four roundabout plan designed by CDM Smith engineering.

In public comment, Jeremy Anderson summarized widely-held misgivings about the proposed design and urged the town to use those concerns to produce a design that addresses the safety of the most vulnerable users—those with disabilities and the children who will attend the elementary schools and who use the associated playing fields. He stated that the DPW and CDM Smith plan is “in my opinion, one of looking at the status quo and putting vehicle traffic first.” He added,  ‘We put the traffic lines down and then we find room for the pedestrians later, and that’s simply not the way to do this. In my mind we should be looking at the most vulnerable members of our community.” He continued, “This is an opportunity for Amherst to show that we are committed to [addressing] climate change, we’re committed to the safety of our citizens, and we want to be a leader in multimodal transportation going forward.”

Asked their impressions of the December 12 meeting, TSO members agreed that safety was the most important consideration, but that traffic flow was also a challenge and there needs to be a way for motorists to get into town. Jennifer Taub said that much of the feedback the committee has received indicated that the intersection at Route 9 (Belchertown Road and College Street) and South East Street is working well and maybe doesn’t need to be changed. Bob Hegner was not opposed to using part of the South Common (that is, the East Amherst Common) if needed, to optimize safety and traffic. George Ryan agreed. He also felt that roundabouts were safer than signalized intersections, because traffic must slow down in roundabouts. However, members of the DAAC strongly objected to roundabouts at the December 12 meeting.

Taub asked what the increase in traffic is projected to be when the school opens. Cathy Schoen noted that in the past, 600 students attended Fort River school, but, since the pandemic, fewer students are taking the bus, and more are being driven to school in private cars. Still, the town must provide buses for all students, so there will be 10 buses arriving and leaving the school daily. Also, there will be vans for special needs students. Schoen said that one of the primary drivers for the traffic pattern chosen at the school was to keep the buses and vans separate from private cars. She stated a traffic study was conducted by the designers of the school, and those figures were used by CDM Smith to formulate the existing plan.

Schoen said that she recently met with School Facilities Director Rupert Roy Clark, who is retiring in January, to discuss possible traffic solutions. They agreed that the signalized intersection to the south works well, but would like the angled spur from Belchertown Road to South East Street to be closed to vehicles and made into a sidewalk, because it enters South East Street near the bus entrance to the school and drivers often do not stop at that stop sign. They thought that coordinated lights at the north entrance to the school and the Main Street entrance could help move traffic, although a “peanut” or oblong roundabout connecting the north parking lot entrance and Main Street might be the best solution. As for bicyclists and pedestrians, walking along the roadway could be avoided to the south by a small bridge over the creek at the rear of the school leading to the community gardens and an existing (although often wet) path from the fields to the north. She also suggested making a sidewalk into the school between two of the houses on South East Street, although this would mean purchasing property or obtaining an easement.

Schoen noted that most of the traffic issues with the buses would be in the afternoon, when all leave at the same time. But, she said, all but three of the 10 buses turn right exiting the school, even the ones heading east to Echo Hill.

Andy Steinberg suggested having all traffic enter at the south driveway and exit at the north, but Superintendent of Public Works Guilford Mooring said this would mean buses and cars would be crossing each other and there would be much less space for cars to queue for drop off, possibly backing traffic up to the entrance. He also said that the DPW tried the coordinated traffic lights before making the temporary one at the school flashing yellow, because drivers were confused and did not stop if one light was red and the other green. However, he said that setup works well at the Big Y Plaza on University Drive so it might merit another look. Mooring also pointed out the problems of closing off the spur behind the bank because that is the exit for the apartment complex there as well.

Hegner again raised the possibility of making South East Street one-way going north and keeping the access road on the other side of the common one-way going south.

Ryan listed general principles obtained from the discussion:

1. Take a holistic approach that emphasizes safety, but realizes that serious traffic issues exist.
2. The South Common (that is, the East Amherst Common) is not sacred and if it is needed to take some land to facilitate safety and traffic flow, TSO is agreeable to that.
3. The committee would like input from the school facilities team.

Taub added that she would like to encourage students to take buses to and from school to reduce fossil fuel use and the amount of traffic.

Most feasible options discussed were:

1. A “peanut” roundabout to the north and a signalized intersection to the south, with the spur off Belchertown Road being closed off.
2. Sidewalks and multimodal paths being constructed, and a new sidewalk between the houses on South East Street.
3. A peanut roundabout to the north and a roundabout to the south.
4. Making South East Street one-way going north, with southbound traffic on the other side of the common.

Discussion will continue in January. When the committee agrees on one or more of the feasible options, TSO will undertake community engagement to inform and get input from the community.

Town Has Many Avenues for Community Engagement
Communications Director Samantha Giffen listed the many ways the town uses to keep residents informed and to invite input. She said the town regularly issues press releases to local media and adds them to the town website. Residents may sign up for notifications of meetings. Also, Amherst has about 7,400 followers on social media and now has a BlueSky account, as well as Instagram and Facebook. The town partners with the schools through the Parent Guardian Organization newsletter, and places flyers for events around town, and does tabling at times at apartment complexes and at events like the annual block party.

To obtain feedback from residents, there are on-line surveys, public forums, and the Engage Amherst site, although the latter has not been updated in the past couple years but is slated to be brought up to date with current projects. People are also invited to submit written comments by email directly to town staff or councilors or through the Town Council comment line, where comments are posted every two weeks.