To join through a conference call, dial 929-436-2866 or 312-626-6799 or 253-215-8782 or 301-715-8592 or 346-248-7799 or 669-900-6833 a. Enter the Webinar ID: 885 3036 6678 b. Enter the password: 637025 The packet with meeting materials for this meeting is available at this link: https://www.town.medfield.net/DocumentCenter/View/7951/Select-Board-Meeting-Packet_06252024
The Medfield Food cupboard is looking for a volunteer to once a month help pick up the food order from the Greater Boston Food bank in Framingham. The volunteer would partner with an experience MFC volunteer as the second pick-up vehicle.
Requirements:
– Must have a large SUV or pick-up truck
– Available every fourth Thursday of the month from 9 AM to 11 AM (starting next Thursday, if possible!)
The Public Safety Building, 112 North Street, will be open as a cooling center from 8am-4pm June 17-June 21. In addition, the CENTER at Medfield, 1 Ice House Road, and Medfield Public Library, 468 Main Street, will be open during regular business hours.
The email below is from David Temple to follow up on his Tuesday Select Board meeting comments in support of installing a roundabout at RTE 27 and West Street instead of new traffic lights and to share his data sources (NB- David did not include a reference to the Roman philosopher Cicero materials he cited). David noted that all who study the issue seem to agree that roundabouts are safer and significant improvements over lights for multiple reasons.
MassDOT prefers we install a roundabout thereso much that we would lose our Federal earmark for $1.3m. and it would cost the town over a $1m. more to install traffic lights instead.:
I spoke in support of installing roundabouts instead of traffic lights in Medfield, and I presented documents from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Massachusetts Dept, of Transportation, and the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation. They asked for electronic copies, for which I have attached links. Please forward them to the board and Kristine. Thanks.
Chris Potts kindly shared with me her notes from listening to the MTV version of Maurice Goulet, Director DPW presenting to the Select Board last week about the MassDOT preference that the RTE 27 and West Street intersection be improved with a roundabout instead of new traffic lights and the link below to the MTV recording.
“Here’s a link to the recording that starts at the point in the discussion when costs were noted: https://youtu.be/VemA9lcCRhQ?t=1903” I see that the presentation on the intersection begins at 27:00.
Chris’ input got me to listen to the MTV video of the meeting about what Moe said, and I now supply a more accurate account. Moe said:
it will cost the town $1.1m. more if the town opts to do new traffic lights instead of the roundabout.
the costs are
traffic lights:
$1.4m. +$300,000 for design costs
town would not get the $1.3m. Federal earmark
= $1.7m. net cost to town.
roundabout:
$1.8m. + unknown amounts for takings of slope easements and temporary takings
town gets the $1.3 Federal earmark
= $500,000 net cost to town.
How Moe gets to the $1.1m.of extra cost to the town, instead of $1.2m. I do, is not clear to me, but it might be the needed takings he references.
Moe also used the words that MassDOT will “require” the roundabout, and that MassDOT is “adamant” about employing roundabouts unless one proves that a roundabout will “not work” at the site.
My prior post stated a $800,000 increased cost to do traffic lights instead of a roundabout, and that was wrong. The increased cost of the traffic lights is either Moe’s $1.1m. or the $1.2m. that I figure.
Maurice Goulet, Director of the DPW, told the Select Board at its meeting last Tuesday that MASSDOT prefers that the town improve the intersection of RTE 27 and West Street by installing a roundabout instead of new traffic signals. That intersection has more motor vehicle crashes than any other in Medfield – hence the concerns and need to improve its safety. Mo said that if the town defies the MASSDOT preference for the roundabout and opts to install new traffic signals instead, that it will likely cost the town $800,000 more than if the town built the roundabout.
There is a Federal earmark secured by Congressman Auchincloss involved for what I recall as $1.2m. to improve that intersection, but which Chris Potts writes in her Medfield Insider (quoted below) as $1.3m., and which I understood from Mo may be at risk if the town goes against the MASSDOT recommendation for a roundabout. Mo said the result is that the town will pay $800,000 more if we do a new traffic signal instead of a roundabout.
Based on the limited information provided to the Select Board to date, I prefer both installing the roundabout and saving the $800,000. Select Board members Murby and Murphy said they preferred new traffic lights.
I especially like the roundabouts in Norfolk Center and the one in Wellesley at the base of the hill by Babson College (RTE 135 and Wellesley Avenue) that Wellesley recently redid to make the lanes smaller and better angled so as to slow speeds.
Mo Goulet shared with the Select Board a possible preliminary design of the roundabout from the MASS DOT traffic engineers, part of which is shown below.
The following longer account of the presentation on the matter at the Select Board meeting was taken directly from the Medfield Insider:
Select Board Members Debate Roundabout While efforts by Congressman Jake Auchincloss resulted in Medfield receiving a $1.3 million state earmark for West Street/Route 27 intersection improvements, the funding comes with a catch: Medfield may be forced to construct a single-lane roundabout. As noted by DPW Director Maurice Goulet in a recent discussion with Select Board, due to the earmark, the project must go through a review by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which is adamant about installing roundabouts, if at all possible. The alternative preferred approached of installing dedicated turn lanes with traffic light improvements is estimated to cost $1.7 million, while a roundabout is estimated to cost $1.8 million, with additional costs for land-takings and easements. Select Board members Eileen Murphy and Gus Murby said they were opposed to a roundabout at the West Street/Route 27 intersection and expressed concerns about vehicle speed, and dangerous pedestrian crossings and biking routes, while member Pete Peterson said he is in favor of the roundabout because he has seen them work well in other towns, and trusts the opinions of state engineers. If the town were to pursue turn lanes instead of a roundabout, it is likely the project would need to be self-funded. After an extensive (and at times heated) Select Board discussion, Goulet will gather more information and try to make a case to the state about foregoing the roundabout option, even though he’s not optimistic about the outcome.
Posted onJune 4, 2024|Comments Off on Office Hours this Friday
Select Board Office Hours this Friday
I hold regular monthly office hours at The Center on the first Friday of every month from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. Residents are welcome to stop by to talk in person about any town matters. Residents can also have coffee and see the Council on Aging in action (a vibrant organization with lots going on).
I started this blog to share the interesting and useful information that I saw while doing my job as a Medfield select board member. I thought that my fellow Medfield residents would also find that information interesting and useful as well. This blog is my effort to assist in creating a system to push the information out from the Town House to residents. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how it can be done better.
For information on my other job as an attorney (personal injury, civil litigation, estate planning and administration, and real estate), please feel free to contact me at 617-969-1500 or Osler.Peterson@OslerPeterson.com.
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