School Safety Zones, Parking Commission, Get Positive Responses from TSO

Report on the Meeting of the Town Services and Outreach Committee, October 24, 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)

Staff: Guilford Mooring (DPW Superintendent), Athena O’Keeffe (Council Clerk)

Transportation and Parking Commission Proposal Positively Received
In August, Town Manager Paul Bockelman proposed replacing the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) with a Transportation and Parking Commission composed of residents and staff.  The new commission would deal with most transportation and parking issues in the public way, most of which are currently In the jurisdiction of the Town Council. As it stands, residents have no clear path to express concerns about parking and traffic. Some issues are brought to TAC, some to the council or town manager, and some to the DPW.  The proposed commission would provide a centralized place to address these issues. 

TAC Chair Tracy Zafian said that her committee has no staff and no authority to implement its recommendations. She thought the proposed commission is a good idea because residents and staff could discuss matters and have the authority to resolve issues. It would also provide a central place for residents to bring their concerns. 

George Ryan delineated steps that he felt were needed to create the commission, such as  a charge for the body, and noted that the town council policy regarding control and regulation of the public way would need to be revised. Because other municipalities, including Northampton, have transportation and parking commissions, he recommended that TSO get feedback from them about how their system works.

Bob Hegner acknowledged the lack of transparency in how traffic and parking issues are dealt with now, but wondered if creating this commission would change the ways residents bring forth concerns. He said, “They will go to people they are used to interacting with.” Ryan admitted that education about the commission will be needed, but having one place where topics can be raised would go a long way toward solving the confusion.

Jennifer Taub thought that some councilors should be members of the commission, since constituents often first approach their council representative about their concerns. She brought up the controversy about parking on Lincoln Avenue, Sunset, and Elm Street, which was bogged down for over 10 years, until she championed the elimination of daytime parking when UMass was in session. She said, “This change was life-altering for residents of those streets,” she said. She added that the current system is not clear but at least there is someone who can champion these issues.

DPW Superintendent Guilford Mooring supported the idea of the new commission. He said that where to take a concern has always been a problem and that once a resident brings a matter to the town manager or the council, the DPW stops any work it is doing on the problem  until they are given direction on how to proceed. The new commission would centralize the process. 

Because the proposed commission would include members of the Amherst Police Department, DPW, and Planning Department, a representative of the Commission on Disabilities, and three residents. Andy Steinberg was concerned about whether a commission would result in extra work for town staff,  but Mooring said that his staff already spends a lot of time dealing with resident concerns, traffic, and parking issues because there is no centralized process.

Ryan pointed out that the commission would decrease the council’s  control of the public way. Steinberg felt that the council should still deal with major changes, such as the traffic pattern near the new elementary school at Fort River and the roundabout at Amity Street and University Drive. Taub also wanted the council to be involved if a parking structure was proposed. TSO will continue to discuss the creation of the new commission at subsequent meetings.  

Many Suggestions for Traffic Pattern Around New Elementary School
The DPW proposal for four roundabouts on the short span on South East Street between Main Street and College Street received criticism from TSO and TAC members. At its last meeting, TSO members had suggested several alternatives, and Steinberg presented a three-page document that compiled the suggestions.

Hegner noted that some of the items listed were duplicates and offered to consolidate them. He suggested that TSO, TAC, and the DPW meet either in person or hybrid to discuss them. 

Mooring stated that if the town wanted the street work to be completed when the school opens in the fall of 2026, the design decisions need to be made relatively soon. He explained that the design he presented was constrained by restrictions placed on it by the school designers and town policy. For example, the designers said that the  driveways cannot be relocated due to the cost of a redesign, and town policy prohibits taking land from the East Common to widen South East Street,and there is no money to purchase additional land on the east side of the street. 

Steinberg said he will aim to schedule an evening meeting in November to discuss the traffic pattern on South East Street. Mooring said he will try to have representatives from CDM Smith Design, the designers of the original plan, attend as well.

Progress on School Safety Zones Near the High School and Middle School
Despite various controversies raised at the October 21 Town Council meeting about creating school safety zones near the high school and middle school, Mooring said the process is straightforward and Town Engineer Jason Skeels is already working on a plan. He said that both entrances to the middle school are on Chestnut Street, so the zone is relatively clear. The main entrance to the high school involves an intersection at Triangle Street and another at Mattoon Street. The former is the one with the most traffic, so a decision will have to be made about whether both or just one intersection should be part of the safety zone. The exit from the school is on Triangle Street.

Taub asked if Triangle Street was a problem, since the area at the entrance (Community Field) actually belongs to the town and not the school. Mooring said that the guidelines would allow a safety zone on Triangle Street. He added that the DPW would do a count of pedestrians and vehicles at the intersections under consideration on several days this fall.

Despite being a proponent of referring the school safety zones to TSO at the October 21 council meeting, Ryan remarked that “maybe it would be easier to have DPW do it with consultation with the school superintendent.”  

The town engineer’s plan will be brought back to TSO at a future meeting in order for the committee tor review it and make recommendations to the full council.

Hegner Suggests Re-examination of Heatherstone Changes
Hegner suggested revisiting the mini-roundabouts recently created on Heatherstone Road. He said he has observed problems with school buses and garbage trucks navigating the street in the morning and asked the other TSO members to visit the newly completed street in order to have a discussion about how it is working at a future meeting.

TSO next meets on November 7.