ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen plan to adopt the state's Complete Streets program and focus possible funds on the southern Route 8 corridor.

 

Director of Community Development Donna Cesan encouraged the board on Wednesday during a workshop meeting to adopt the state Department of Transportation’s program that awards qualifying communities funds to improve streets, sidewalks and intersections to better transportation for all travel modes.

 

"The idea is that in your community you can walk to the post office or you can walk to the grocery store. We don't perceive that as an issue here, but in other more urban areas the roadways are really focused on cars," Cesan said. "That is what they cater to and pedestrians be damned, so this is more of a balance. It gives equal footing, if you will, to pedestrians and bicyclists."

 

Cesan said she would like to focus the policy on the southern Route 8 corridor. 

 

"First, that came to mind was Commercial Street and the southern part of Route 8 because there is a lot of pedestrian traffic," she said. "I think the roadway is wide enough and we know it can accommodate bike lanes."

 

She said for the past few years the town has put efforts toward cleaning up Route 8. She said complete street funds were actually tapped during the renovation of Park Street.

 

Cesan said first, the selectmen must officially adopt the policy and send their application to MassDOT which will score the application.

 

If approved, the town can apply for up to $50,000 that can be used to perform an inventory of all street projects in town and prioritize them.  

 

She said if the prioritized project is approved, the town can apply for up to $400,000 to implement it. 

 

She said the town will have to create a committee to assist in this process. She noted that the committee will also look into policies and zoning bylaws to make sure they are congruent with complete streets.

 

"We need to look at the unintended consequences," Cesan said. "They want you to look at the at the roads and policies and put all of these things in there in a cohesive and coordinated way."

 

Cesan said the town recently applied to use Chapter 90 road funds for the design of the Route 8 project. She said it is estimated that it will cost $86,000 for engineers to get the plans to 25 percent completion.

 

"Instead of putting this on hold, I would like to get going on this as soon as possible," Cesan said. "We can work on our plan and policy in a parallel."

 

She said it will likely take over a year to get to 25 percent completion. The Complete Streets policy should be complete in a few months.

 

Cesan said the program can be applied to communities in different ways. Because Adams is less urban, there may be more of a focus on green infrastructure such as a storm-water system that does not use piping, but natural water control methods to discharge water into the ground.

 

Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian said he wanted the application to state that Adams is an age-friendly community.

 

Cesan said it would be good to include that along with other initiatives in town.

 

"That is the concept," Cesan said. "Connecting all of those dots. The more dots we connect and the stronger and more integrated it is the better chance the policy has of being implemented." 

 

Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said he liked the idea, however, was concerned that redoing a street as a "complete street" could cost more.

 

Cesan said the cost difference would likely be marginal because the town would be redeveloping streets, not creating new ones.

 

Harrington said he "applauded" the idea and believes the town has to do as much as it can to make the streets safe.

 

"I think we need to identify the places where we have to slow traffic down and where we have to guide pedestrians," he said. "This is huge in the character of our community, and we need to do things the right way because we are responsible for the future of our kids, grandkids and everybody else and making this a safer place to live."

 

The board plans to accept the policy formally at its regular meeting next week.

 

In other business, Cesan updated the board on some additions to the ongoing strategic plan. 

 

The board agreed to make comments on the plan and in two weeks disperse the draft to the department heads to gain their input.

 

The board said it hopes to wrap up the plan by the end of December and hold a public meeting.