Report: 3,200 car trip increase not mitigated
Published on November 8th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA -An independent traffic consultant insisted last week that the applicants for a planned Fallon Road Home Depot could not offset traffic impacts with the roadway improvement package proposed to Planning Board members.
In remarks that echoed comments at a Planning Board meeting on the 133,000 square foot redevelopment earlier this month, Gary Hebert, of Fay, Spofford and Thorndike, concluded that an estimated increase of 3,200 cars from the Stoneham Crossings project could not possibly be mitigated with what the petitioners have suggested to date.
Wilmington's The Richmond Company, which purchased the former Fallon Road headquarters of the A.W. Chesterton Company last spring for $7.4 million, hopes to erect the Home Depot and a three-story, 15,000 square foot office park at the site.
The 16.2-acre parcel, located in south Stoneham near the Winchester line, borders an I-93 north on-ramp and southbound off-ramp, and is predicted to draw additional traffic along North Border Road, Park Street, Marble Street, and Main and South Streets.
According to Hebert, his largest concerns with The Richmond Company's original mitigation package surrounded potential traffic backups onto I-93 near the southbound off-ramp, and the proposed signalization of the dangerous I-93 North on-ramp intersection with Park Street and North Border Road.
In addition, the traffic consultant opined that in order for the project to work as planned, the roadway improvements would also have to address North Border Road's intersection with Main and South Streets near Friendly's Restaurant.
"Is it your professional opinion that the measures proposed by the developer do not fully mitigate the traffic coming from the site?" Planning Board member Frank Federico asked.
"That's correct," Hebert responded. "The [improvements] that are in this study will not address all the impacts. I haven't heard what mitigation measures they are now proposing."
Back to the drawing board
According to local attorney and Stoneham resident Mark Vaughan, of Burlington's Riemer and Braunstein, his clients had already addressed a number of concerns raised by Hebert during his preliminary oral analysis of the proposal earlier last month.
Specifically, Vaughan referred to the relocation of the access drive to the site, which was originally proposed to be located just 85-feet from the I-93 southbound off-ramp, and would now be placed 200-feet away.
Upon seeing that plan, Hebert, already worried about the present-day morning backups onto the highway, contended that the driveway's proximity to the off-ramp could exacerbate the situation by increasing the potential for car accidents.
However, the biggest change to the mitigation involved the junking of the planned traffic signal near the I-93 north on-ramp, Park Street, Fallon Road, and North Border Road, and the creation of a roundabout. In addition, a second roundabout would be installed near the I-93 southbound off-ramp.
According to David Armanetti, of the Richmond Company, the two one-lane roundabouts would serve two purposes: 1) They would allow traffic to be processed in a manner that keeps vehicles from backing-up onto I-93 and the surrounding roadways, and 2) it would prevent the paving of 20,000 square feet of green-space, creating a more pedestrian-friendly mitigation.
"Two of the major [state] agencies that have jurisdiction over these roadways have encouraged this development," Armanetti said of the new mitigations. "We're right at the heart of one of the major cut-throughs in town. That's just a fact of life. So now we have to mitigate that."
Planning Board members, who seemed far than pleased with the alteration to the mitigation package, agreed to continue deliberations on the proposal so that Hebert could analyze the effectiveness of the roundabouts.
The Sheepfold Crusade
Creating an interesting twist in the Planning Board's deliberations, local developer Joseph Cunningham bluntly asked the developer to give the town $250,000 for police enforcement at the popular Fells Reservation space known as the Sheepfold.
In an at-times long winded presentation, Cunningham claimed argued that the national home improvement chain was in a unique position to help Stoneham eradicate some of the indecent acts that have reportedly been occurring at the recreational spot for decades.
"I know about the dark side of Stoneham. I know this piece of property has nationally been put into the Internet because of the perversion that has been going on up there for decades," the Stoneham native said. "I'm going to respectfully ask the applicants to consider setting aside $250,000 so we can have state police enforcement up there."
Although Planning Board members granted Cunningham some leeway during his speech, his request was abruptly cut-off after he made one comment that appeared to implicate every gay and lesbian individual in the purported open and indecent sexual activity at the Sheepfold.
At least one audience member, voicing her objection to that insinuation, later left the meeting visibly upset.
"My statements and facts are not directed towards any decent male or female heterosexual," Cunningham began, before the audience member spoke-out.
"Let's avoid the lifestyle talk," Niewenhous later directed the local developer.
"Let's avoid the lifestyle? This is about our kids. It's continuing, it's rampant, and it's because we don't have the finances to enforce it," Cunningham responded, before relenting.
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