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Date: 6/21/2021
WILLIAMSBURG – On June 16, representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) hosted an online public hearing for the renovation of Mountain Street.
Greg Frazier, the project manager with MassDOT, started the hearing by explaining that the project would cost $13 million and would be fully funded between MassDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration.
“We are currently in the design stage and we estimate the total project will cost $13 million, which will come from federal aid funding with the Federal Highway Administration funding 80 percent of the project. MassDOT will fund the remaining 20 percent of the project,” he said.
While there will be funding for the construction, Frazier said Williamsburg would be required to pay for any easements or taking of land for the project.
Based on the current plans, Nikki Peters with the Right of Way Bureau, said more than 170 easements are required for the project.
“The current design plans indicate there are 57 permanent easements and 119 temporary easements required. The property owners impacted by this project will be contacted by your municipal officials, they will present the proposed impacts to each owner and discuss the methods they may acquire the needed rights for the project,” she said.
Frazier said the project’s design will not be completed until the winter of 2024.
“The design is expected to be completed in the winter of 2024 although the project is not currently programmed on the Transportation Improvement program, construction is expected to be completed within two years of the future advertisement date,” he said.
Frazier said the goal of the project is to address roadway conditions, safety and more.
“The goals are to address roadway condition, safety, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, and drainage treatment. The project seeks to address the pavement and substructure conditions, reduce maintenance costs, address high roadway crash rate by reducing roadway departure widths, calm traffic speed and modernize guardrail and pavement signage,” he said.
Audrey Beaulac, a senior transportation engineer with Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, said they considered five alternatives for the project.
“We considered five different pavement layouts alternatives – one was 30-foot paved section, alternative two was a 28-foot paved section including a shared travel lane, alternative three was a 26-foot paved section including a shared travel lane, alternative four more closely matched the existing pavement, and alternative five was a 28-foot paved section with 10-foot travel lanes and 4-foot shoulders,” she said.
Beaulac added that the project would be moving forward with alternative five.
One resident, Penny Robbins, said the high crash rate seemed unusual based on police reports for accidents on the road.
“That high crash rate is interesting to me because I went back and over the last 15 years in the 13 accidents the police responded to, five of those were single car encountering a deer, six of them were the result of bad, icy conditions, there was one two car accident, where one driver was not paying attention, but no one was hurt, and a tire fell off a car,” she said.
Board of Selectmen Chair William Sayre jumped into the conversation to explain that it would have been impossible for the town to pay for the Mountain Street repairs.
“We have talked about this road for a long time and realized we could not afford to fix it. $13 million is way more than we can afford, even if it was half of that we cannot afford that. The Chapter 90 money would not cover repairing this road, so we reached out to the state and our legislators,” he said.
Based on the current design, Sayre said it did not seem like enough input from the town had been taken into account.
“A lot of decisions seem to have been made without enough input from the town and from local residents because we are seeing a preferred design at 25 percent. I do not really understand the process enough to know if we can impact the preferred design or not,” he said.
Sayre also invited residents to come to an upcoming Board of Selectmen meeting to discuss the project and requested an extension.