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‘Serious |
By Scott MacKeen As workers continue the replacement of aging pipelines along Adams Street, the Police Department is handling disrupted traffic flows in East Milton. According to Lt. Kevin Foley, traffic impacts are still minimal in the square, although that may change as crews began digging in front of the Jesson Professional Building this week. “What’s gong to happen in the next month or so may change things,” said Foley, who is in charge of traffic details during the project. “You may have serious backups when you get to that.” Thus far, the work in East Milton Square has been focused in front of St. Agatha School, where a large pit is being dug using a pipe-jacking technique. This work is meant to stabilize the ongoing installation of a new 48-inch water pipe, which will replace two aging 24-inch pipes, according to Massachusetts Water Resources Authority spokesman Len Cawley. The MWRA project, which began in May, includes the replacement of about 9,200 feet of pipelines along Adams Street, which supply water to Milton and Quincy. Some of the pipes are over 100 years old. Some of the work has been happening along Bryant Avenue, in front of the Shell gas station. Foley said the work in the square has been limited to the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and has caused “minimal intrusion” on rush-hour traffic. However, problems did occur last weekend when a section of the old pipeline sprung a leak, causing a sinkhole “the size of a car” on Bryant Avenue, Foley said. The incident occurred on July 18, two days after a pit was capped off for the weekend, he said. “Between Friday when they [capped the pit with fill and blacktop] and Sunday morning, a pipe leaked and the road collapsed. It was enormous,” said Foley. Workers responded quickly, securing the hole with steel plates, according to Foley. “They cut one of the 24-inch water mains and sealed it off. It appears they didn’t seal it off enough,” he said. The work is also impacting a study of parking and access issues in East Milton Square. The study got underway in June. The study, funded by a $1 million federal earmark the town received in 2005, is meant to address long-standing traffic issues in the square. However, traffic and parking patterns cannot be accurately judged while construction is occurring, according to Keri Pyke, project manager of the study. As a result, Pyke said, that part of the study will be delayed until the MWRA construction season wraps in the fall. “We have a schedule that takes us through May of next year,” she said during a meeting with the Business and Citizen Advisory Committee on July 14. Pyke is the director of transportation planning for Boston-based Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, an urban planning group that was chosen earlier this year to handle phase one of the study. The first phase involves a yearlong measure of East Milton traffic and parking patterns, and recommendations for improvement. During the July 14 meeting, Pyke brought BCAC members up to speed on what has already been done and what her company is continuing to pursue as part of the phase-one study. The team has already done an inventory of all parking spaces in East Milton Square to provide a baseline for the study, Pyke said. But further measures – including an examination of current usage of spaces and traffic patterns around the square – are being delayed by the construction. Beyond simply lessening long-standing parking issues in the town’s busiest business hub, the study is looking to determine the best use of East Milton Square from a business and cultural sense, Pyke said. “What we are looking at is, ‘What do you want this to be for Milton residents of the future and how [do] we help it get there?’ We want to make [East Milton Square] a place where people want to come, and want to shop. We want to make it a special place,” she said. Phase one utilizes $150,000 of the grant and the rest can go toward implementation of measures to enhance the square. In 2008, Selectmen appointed a large committee of residents and business owners in the square to advise the town in the study. The committee has met sparsely since then, as town officials have had to clear several unexpected bureaucratic hurdles to gain full access to the funds. Meanwhile, Pyke and her team are launching a public-outreach campaign as part of their study. In addition to creating a Web site for the project, they are making their presence known on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else people can keep tabs and submit feedback on the process of the study. Pyke said she wants to hear from as many residents as possible. Flyers will be put up in local businesses with contact information, she said. “That is really a central part of what we do,” she said of the public outreach. In addition, the firm is tapping the creative brain of Cambridge-based Todreas Hanley Associates, a retail development consultant, to explore strategies to enhance the business experience of the square. That is coupled with trying to make it easier both for pedestrians and commuters to navigate and shop in the district, she said. Several residents of Governor’s Road spoke during the meeting, expressing interest in having the project provide traffic relief to their street. They said the street is used as a cut-through for those avoiding the gridlock of the square. Although East Milton Square features several key and popular locations, including the Milton Post Office, Milton Marketplace and Fitness Unlimited, the area is bisected by the Southeast Expressway, which was constructed through the area in the 1950s. For walkers, getting from one section of the square to another often means having to cross multiple, highly trafficked streets. BCAC member Meryl Manin, co-owner of Grono & Christie Jewelers in the square, said businesses have long suffered by limited parking. “Somehow, we’ve survived,” she said. “I’m a firm believer that if you put in the parking, [more business] will come. I’m sure of it,” she said. There were several ideas as to how to provide more parking in the square, whether it be by the purchase of land or the reconfiguration of the space that already exists. Pyke said her team will process all the suggestions to determine how or even if they could potentially be realized. “Based on some of the things we heard, it’s clear there’s some research we need to do,” Pyke said. For more information on the East Milton Square Parking and Access Study, go to www.eastmiltonsquarestudy.com or search “East Milton Square Study” on Facebook. Howard/Stein Hudson can be reached at (617) 482-7080. The company plans to meet regularly with the BCAC during the project’s duration. |
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