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Committee
Approves Traffic Plan

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
5/13/10
The town has a consultant and can move ahead with a plan to study traffic and parking conditions in East Milton Square.

During an April 28 meeting, the Business and Citizen Advisory Committee selected Boston-based Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates as the firm to conduct the $150,000 study, part of a $1 million earmark the federal government appropriated in 2005 to pursue improvements of the square.

Of the three firms that responded to a Request for Proposals from the town, Howard/Stein-Hudson was the only one that provided “more than was asked,” Town Planner Bill Clark told the committee at a meeting April 20, when the proposals were first reviewed.

The firm twice sent out representatives to review conditions in the square prior to submitting a proposal, according to Clark.

Howard/Stein-Hudson was the company the Planning Board hired last year to conduct a peer review of a traffic study tied to a commercial redevelopment plan for Temple Shalom that included a CVS Pharmacy. That proposal was ultimately rejected by Town Meeting.

According to its proposal, Howard/Stein will commit a project manager, two transportation planners, four land-use/economic development specialists, three traffic engineers, two landscape/streetscape designers, a structural engineer and a community representative to the project. The principal in charge will be Howard/Stein’s chief engineer, Thomas Stokes, who previously worked for seven years in the Department of Transportation.

The contract calls for a 12-month timeline for the project.

Howard/Stein will conduct baseline analysis of the square and analyze current-use traffic patterns. The team will develop three to five options for improving “identified deficiencies” in the square.

“The alternatives will include a range of options, from short-term, easily implementable changes to long-term, major capital investments. Should the most highly-ranked alternative include significant capital investment beyond the amount remaining in the federal earmark, [Howard/Stein-Hudson] will help the town develop strategies for funding of design and construction,” the proposal states.

Options could include:
• Changes to parking regulations and management.
• New layouts for public and private off-street parking lots.
• Identification of new off-street parking lots/garages.
• Changes to pedestrian and bicycle access.
• Changes in traffic circulation, traffic calming and streetscape/aesthetic measures.
Howard/Stein has managed many community planning projects, including the revitalization of Union Square in Somerville, Central Square in East Boston, Hyannis Harbor, Quincy Center, and Dorchester Avenue in Boston.