Route 30 recommendation to come in December

After receiving 116 resident letters about the Route 30 reconstruction project, the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee will issue its recommendations on the controversial proposal in December.

Over the next month, Traffic and Sidewalk Committee members will analyze resident input, review Howard Stein Hudson’s (HSH) pre-75% design proposal and issue a recommendation highlighting what works about the project, what needs to be addressed and how they feel the project should proceed.

The Committee will meet on Nov. 18 to share their thoughts. A second meeting to finalize and vote on the recommendations will be held on Dec. 2. A joint meeting with the Select Board is tentatively set for the week of Dec. 14. Regardless of its recommendations, the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee is an advisory committee, and the Select Board will make decisions on the project.

“We’re not making a decision on Route 30,” Committee Chair Richard Flynn said. “We’re making an informed assessment of the project based on what we’ve heard from the public, what we’ve heard from HSH, and how we each distill that. Then, as a group of five people, we boil that down into a set of material that we’ll pass onto the Select Board.”

Under consideration is a state-funded 3.7-mile, $18.5-million reconstruction of Route 30 from the Natick town line to the intersection of Cutters Bluff Road. The work will decrease the width of the driving surface to accommodate a 10-foot shared-use path, improve pedestrian crossings, update drainage and make connections to other sidewalks and paths along the route.

Concerns about the project are numerous. Weston received 116 letters from residents, with an overwhelming majority opposing the project for a variety of reasons. Analyses by both The Observer and the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee found many letter writers were concerned about the environment; the safety of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians; a perceived lack of potential shared-use path users; and changes to Weston’s semirural character.

While there are many concerns aired by residents, Traffic and Sidewalk Committee member Jay Doyle said there needs to be consideration of what is possible, and what is wishful thinking.

“Many of them said they support the idea of a sidewalk and bicycle accommodations, but just to do it in a different way. I think we have to be careful of magical thinking. What is that other way? And what are its impacts?” Doyle said. “When we come at it, we need to recognize those kinds of things.”

Committee members also said they will need to consider questions on a case-by-case basis, as some may only be able to be answered by Howard Stein Hudson due to their technical nature. Also under review will be how solutions to residents’ questions and concerns can be incorporated into the design, as well as how the project can be implemented without impacting Weston’s semirural character.

Concerns about character, Chair Richard Flynn said, are part of the “intangibles” that members have to consider.

“That emerges in almost everything this town does, is ensuring that we maintain the character of the town. I take that element very seriously, but at the same time, let’s be a little creative in terms of how we approach solving the problem,” Flynn said. “This is a one-time opportunity to see if there are certain approaches that can be done to this to satisfy the need.”

The Traffic and Sidewalk Committee has created a public document database, which is accessible from the Route 30 project page on the town website, at westonma.gov/1274/Route-30-Reconstruction. This database includes project documents, as well as summaries of resident input, media coverage and outstanding questions.

As the committee moves forward with analyzing the Route 30 reconstruction, member Katherine “Kit” Diver said residents will have the opportunity to see how the recommendation is synthesized.

“We are a public group, so remember after our meeting on [Dec. 2], everybody in town knows exactly where we are,” Diver said. “Our formal meeting with the Select Board will be no surprise to them. It will be a ratification.”