MassHighway I-93/95 meeting last night
Published on July 17th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - Last night hundreds of people from Reading, Stoneham and Woburn sat in the audience at the Reading Memorial High School auditorium to get answers from and voice ideas and concerns to MassHighway officials regarding the I-93/I-95 (Rte. 128) Interchange proposal. “We’ve got $100 million on the table. We’ve got 100 homes [slated to be demolished. We need some answers,” said Dr. Jeffrey Everson, PRESERVE member.
MassHighway Chief Engineer Thomas Broderick said that according to MassHighway Acting Commissioner John Cogliano, the four-tier design “has been taken off the table and will not be advanced any further.” However a three-tier design is being considered. The flyovers are to be about 25 feet high, not 75 as proposed with a four-tier design. Broderick also stated that approximately 35 homes, not 100 will be taken for this project. “We don’t believe any homes should be taken for this project,” said Tony Kennedy, selectmen chairman of Stoneham. “The view we have is that this should not be a computer exercise.”
Stan Wood, highway design manager, stated that as far as the whole process of the project is concerned MassHighway is not even at the beginning stages. He also said that the main purpose of the project was to create a safer interchange.
Last night’s meeting was brought together by State Representatives Bradley H. Jones, Paul C. Casey, Carol Donovan and State Senator Richard Tisei after a public outcry of concern arose from area residents of Reading Woburn and Stoneham in early June regarding a MassHighway I-93/I95 cloverleaf expansion plan.
The plan MassHighway unveiled at Stoneham High School on June 4 called for an expansion of the footprint of the I-93/I-95 intersection that will tear down over 100 homes in Reading, Woburn and Stoneham. Reading Selectman Rick Schubert said, “Is there a problem? I say yes. Should we do something about it? I say yes. Have we seen a solution? I say no.” He went on to say that MassHighway is taking the easy way out with the interchange expansion project.
PRESERVE Spokeswoman Carla Abate informed the audience of some things that PRESERVE has discovered in MassHighway’s contract with Edward and Kelcey and both their Web sites: The project, by contract is to have “minimal environmental and social impacts.” “I just wanted to let you know that you’re a minimal social impact,” said Abate, addressing the audience.
When the proposed interchange project is finally constructed it is to be a “long term solution expected to set the standard for a new prototype for the clover leafs in Massachusetts.”
PRESERVE has obtained over 3,000 signatures in support of stopping the feasibility study as it is being proposed. “That’s what we’ve counted and we have more,” she said. Reading Selectman Gail Wood stated that something like this may be appropriate in Utah but not in a population a dense as Massachusetts. “The foot print is a big problem,” she said.
A Stoneham resident stated that his wife grew up in Houston, TX, “the Land of Flyovers,” he called it. “It is not solving the traffic problems, it’s making the accidents worse,” he said. He went on to say “New England has a wealth of natural beauty. It’s a desirable area of the country to live. I just don’t want to see that leave.”
Jim Corbett of Reading asked the MassHighway panel if anyone of them has been the victim of eminent domain to which a staff member stated Acting Commissioner John Cogliano had his business property taken on two separate occasions due to Rte 128 expansions and that he is very sensitive to the issue of eminent domain. Cogliano was not present at the meeting.
Corbett who stated he was also a victim of eminent domain said, “you’d all quit before you’d tolerate this stuff.” “There is no more devastating a power than eminent domain,” he said. He went on to say that eminent domain was originally intended to take land, not homes as part of creating the original roadways that now make up the country’s interstate system.
One Reading resident stated that all three alternatives Edwards and Kelcey have come up with for MassHighway look identical. Broderick stated that the final plan will definitely not be what has been presented thus far. He went on to say that a total of 15 plans have been considered.
“Why would you do these if it isn’t real?” said the Reading man regarding the three options MassHighway has presented. “You should be upset that the alternatives are not imaginative.”
Reading Firefighter John Jenks said “How can you call this a feasibility study when you have two major projects on either side of this project. You have no idea what the Big Dig is going to do.” He also stated that the Reading Fire Department (RFD) responds to all reported accidents along the exits associated with the I-93/I-95 Interchange and that between July 1, 2002 and July 2, 2002, the RFD responded to a total 19 accidents. MassHighway has until November to come up with a conclusion to their feasibility study.
By contract they have to look into all possible alternatives. Dr Jeffrey Everson stated he has several pages of peoples’ questions and potential alternatives that he has submitted to MassHighway.
Reading Selectman Gail Wood commended the public for treating this matter in a positive way, trying to give alternatives to the interchange project not just criticizing it.
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