The Town of Medfield recently installed delineator flexposts and painted curb extensions as traffic-calming measures designed to improve pedestrian safety in the downtown. Initial public response to this installation has raised a number of critical concerns about its impact on traffic flow through the center of town. This press release is intended to provide background information to answer some of the questions that have been asked, as the town works to address public concerns and adjust installations where appropriate to achieve the intended safety improvements while minimizing avoidable disruptions to traffic flow in the downtown.
The Town of Medfield received a $146,000 Pedestrian Improvement Grant from MassDOT as part of their Shared Safe Streets and Spaces Program. Pedestrian safety, particularly crosswalk safety, was identified as a concern in both the Townwide Master Plan and the Rapid Recovery Plan.
The project was designed by traffic engineers and included two construction phases. The first phase of the project took place in the fall, with the installation of new crosswalks on Main Street and North Street, and the realignment of the crosswalk at North/Janes Avenue. New crosswalk beacons were also installed on Main Street and North Street, as well as new ADA ramps in the downtown.
The second phase of the project was the installation of delineator flexposts and painted curb extensions to serve as traffic-calming measures, slowing vehicles and turning speeds while increasing visibility for crossing pedestrians.
The following are some of the questions that have been raised:
Who approved the Project? The Select Board accepted the grant from MassDOT, and a review and presentation were made at the Select Board meeting on September 17, 2024.
Why did the Town apply for a Pedestrian Improvement Grant?
The 2021 Master Plan cites residents' concerns about pedestrian safety in the downtown area. The Downtown Rapid Recovery Plan cited concerns about the safety of pedestrians in downtown crosswalks and vehicles turning off Main Street.
Are the delineators permanent?
The flexposts are a traffic-calming pilot project and can be moved during this test period. Any of these locations deemed successful can be made permanent, and any that are not can be removed. The flexpost delineators are not permanent installations.
The new crosswalks, ADA ramps, and the flashing beacons on Main Street and North Street are permanent installations.
Were the Handicapped Accessible Spots blocked?
Yes, this was done in error, and those flexposts were removed. A broader discussion is underway regarding our downtown handicapped spaces, as some are not in compliance and need to be upgraded and/or moved to be fully compliant.
How will this impact snowplowing?
The flexposts will be removed for the winter months to allow for snowplow operations.
From the Medfield Patch, the following is Sharon Tatro’s summary of her exhaustive and detailed investigation of the history of the proposed improvement of the RTE 27 and West Street intersection. Sharon emailed this letter to Select Board members on Monday. –
Letter from Sharon Tatro Regarding the West St/Rt 27 Intersection
Letter sent to Select Board, Town Admin and the DPW Director on 9/9/24. Select Board will address this at tonight’s 9/10 Mtg at 6pm.
Intersection of West Street and Rt 27 Medfield (Courtesy Image)
Letter from Medfield resident and former member of the Medfield Warrant Committee, Sharon Tatro…
September 9, 2024
“In advance of the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, September 10th , I wanted to reach out to all of you about the intersection at West Street and Route 27. I want to open by reminding all of you, I was a member of the Warrant Committee from Sept 2014 to May 2023. During my tenure on the Warrant Committee the safety concerns of that intersection became the subject of potential warrant articles that all were pulled prior to Town Meeting due to the desire of the DPW Director and Town Administrator to try to find either state or federal grants to help the town pay for it. Given the fact that I live on West I always volunteered to work on that article. In March of 2024 a horrific crash occurred at that intersection that had a profound impact on myself and others that I care deeply for. Immediately following the crash many of us contacted the state representatives and senators to find out the status of the funding. I have attached for you the response we received from Denise Garlick’s office on March 18th. This was the first time that myself and many others learned about the $1.3M Federal earmark from 2022 (Exhibit A).
I have now spent a tremendous amount of time pouring over the documents on this topic from 2021 to present. I have also watched every Select Board meeting from 2021 to present that had the topic of any intersection in town not just this one. What strikes me is a combination of two things, personal preference predispositions that have clouded the ability to see what actually is in the best interest and safety of towns people and then those same people creating a deafening silence due to inaction because they didn’t like what they were being told. The consequence in front of us right now is that the funds will expire in September 2026 if it has not been expended….not planned….expended.
This intersection was constantly a topic and an urgent issue leading up to 2020. It was such an issue that the town negotiated payments from some developments to have to pay the town funds to go towards it. That was in addition to applying for and receiving a Housing Choice grant in 2021 for design (Exhibit B) and a Federal Community Project Funding Grant in 2022 for construction (Exhibits C1, C2, D, E, F & G). And then the silence begins until March 13, 2024 when the need for a MedFlight helicopter seems to have brought us here.
I have had people ask me about how many crashes are at that intersection. When the town was notified in March 2019 that it was a Top 200 Crash Location there had been 22 crashes between 2014-2016. I asked the Chief to compile the data for the last 10 years. (Exhibit T). You will see that the number of crashes from when we got the Federal earmark through when I received this last week there were 11, well now there is 12 as there was one around 1pm today. In 2022 alone there were 13 therefore in the last three years 2022-2024 there are already 24 counting today and we still have 4 months left in the year. In my discussions with the Town Administrator and DPW Director, they explained to me that the crashes were mainly due to left turning crashes. However, when you read the reports done that is not true. In fact, in the crash statistics used by MPO (Exhibits C2 and J) 28 of the 46 crashes were due to “angle collisions”. Only 6 of the 28 were from left turns. The remaining 22 were from red light violations caused by either: – Speeding – Intersection Environment – Signal Visibility – Signal Operation – Sun glare
It is and always has been clear that something needs to be done. So how did we get from working diligently on this to total inaction and jeopardy of losing funding if we don’t act now? The timeline is this:
March 13, 2019: Medfield was sent a letter about the intersection being on the list of the top 200 crash sites. (Exhibit H) – May 20, 2019: Medfield was notified by MassDOT that a Road Safety Audit would be conducted. (Exhibit I) – November 7, 2019: The 27/West Intersection was chosen by the MPO as one of 30 intersections that needed to be studied for safety improvements. A review was given to study advisors on 9/16/2020 (Exhibit C2) and then a complete report was issued on 10/22/20 (Exhibit J) – December 8, 2020: Medfield begins to engage BETA to participate in the Housing Choice Grant application. (Exhibits K1 and K2) – March 23, 2021: Medfield receives the Housing Choice Grant for a design study of the intersection. (Exhibit B) – April 20 through May 5, 2021 emails: Medfield works with BETA and the MassDOT to gather information needed to submit for the Federal Community Project Funding Grant. (Exhibits L1-4) – May 25, 2021: The Select Board voted to have BETA complete a study for the engineering and design of intersection improvements at West Street and Route 27 using the Department of Housing and Community Development grant awarded the Town for $160,500 grant (FY2021 Housing Choice Community Capital Grant). – Between 5/25/21 and 6/30/22 the DPW Director and BETA work on the study. BETA informs the town in April 2022 the cost of both a roundabout and a signalized intersection and informs them that MassDOT will more than likely require the more expensive roundabout.
March 31, 2022: BETA and the town of Medfield submit the project to MassDOT TIPs program (Exhibit M)
April 25, 2022: Town of Medfield reaches out to BETA to get additional information for the Federal Grant application and is reminded that MassDOT has told them it will probably need to be a roundabout and gives a project cost for the signalized intersection and the roundabout. (Exhibit N)
June 1, 2022: MassDOT accepts the project and lets Medfield know they have until June 1, 2024 to do three things (Exhibit O) (note.NONE.of.this.has.been.done.and.the.deadline.has.passed)¿
Receive MassDOT Approval of the project’s scope/workhours
Secure a signed contract with a design consultant
Identify design funding and provide proof of a Town vote/Chapter 90 approval
June 30, 2022: BETA issues their report (Exhibit P)
– March 1, 2022: Select Board hears a presentation from Nitsch Engineering about five other intersections in Medfield that they studied in 2020. The 27/West intersection was not part of this presentation. – July 7, 2022: BETA submits a contract to Medfield to complete the work as required in the June 1, 2022 letter. (Exhibit Q) (note.we.NEVER.respond.or.present.this.to.the. Select.Board) – December 20, 2022: The town is notified of the successful Federal grant (Exhibit D) for construction and told it will be administered by the DOT. See below for the portion of the Federal press release (Exhibit E) for what was approved:
Project: Reconstruction of the West Street / Route 27 Intersection Amount of Request: $1,300,000 Project Sponsor: Town of Medfield Address: 459 Main Street, Medfield, MA 02052 Project Description: The funding would be used for the reconstruction of the intersection at West Street and Route 27 (North Meadows Road) in Medfield. The intersection is identified as a high crash location by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (top 5%) for 2014-2016 and 2013-2015. It is also a MassDOT Top 200 Intersection Crash Cluster Location. Funding Subcommittee and Account: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development – Federal-Aid Highways: Highway Infrastructure Programs
-February 8, 2023: The town asks how to access the grant and are reminded that MassDOT will administer it. The town is also told that all $1.3M must be fully expended by September 2026. (Exhibit G) – March 13, 2023: The town gets an email from BETA asking about status because the MassDOT reached out to them on 3/7/23 for the status of the 25% Design project to be funded by Chapter 90. (Exhibit R)
Next comes the silence.
The next time there is any activity again talking about this intersection is after the near tragedy on 3/13/24. I have been told by the Town Administrator and the DPW Director that they didn’t move forward because “the town” preferred a signalized intersection and not the roundabout that MassDOT was more than likely going to want. The core issue to this is that there was never one Select Board meeting where this was discussed nor was it ever brought to the town. So “the town” they refer to is the two of them and perhaps a few other town officials asked in side meetings and never was a formal vote or discussion taken. The reports prepared by the MPO and BETA have never been presented. I have checked every agenda since 1/1/21 and watched every meeting the DPW Director was present at. Never once is the Select Board shown the studies, asked to opine on the studies or ask if the town has a preference on what design to select.
In fact, if you look closely at the submission sent to Rep Auchincloss on 4/20/22 (Exhibit C1) you will see that a web link is provided as backup which is the presentation from 9/16/20 that MPO had for a review meeting (Exhibit C2). However, on 10/22/2020 MPO had submitted a full report as a result of that meeting (Exhibit J). It can be noted that the key difference is the additional analysis including the roundabout as a potential long-term improvement. On page 24, they state when referring to the roundabout that it “would slow down all the traffic through the roundabout and would reduce the crash severity most significantly.” They go on to say “All of these should be further investigated at the functional design stage.” My biggest concern here is that we had the report from 10/22/2020 but chose to submit with the Federal Grant the less robust power point presentation that does not include the full picture. This shows the predisposition by those participating in this to the signalized intersection but without any input from the Select Board or the towns people.
Individuals who are not traffic safety engineers have talked amongst themselves, disagreed with experts and never asked the “town”. The “town” gets asked during the Public Hearing process that comes with a 25% Design Phase process but the “town” has never been given their due process because for two years our town leaders have failed to move this forward for the good of the town.
I also have been told by the Town Administrator and the DPW Director that the Federal Grant is for signals and not a roundabout. Actually, that is not true. Look at the grant application (Exhibit C1)…it never once says how we want to fix the intersection it just discusses how dangerous it is and that it needs to be reconstructed. Look at the grant award (Exhibit E)…” the reconstruction of the intersection”. It does not say signals at all. The grant application submitted used the lower number for signals but the grant is not for signals…its for reconstruction. The reconstruction is then managed by MassDOT. MassDOT requires you to have a roundabout considered, the town officials knew that and they ignored it because they didn’t like what they were being told. The only application submitted by the town on this that talks about the signalized intersection is the one to MassDOT when the town needed a project number to be assigned (Exhibit M).
The only meeting between 2021-2024 about completed intersection studies was on 3/1/22. At this meeting Nitsch Engineering gives a presentation on a study they did in 2020 on five other intersections in town. I was struck while watching this that once again town officials questioned the traffic safety experts and made suggestions based on personal preferences and conveniences ignoring the counter points on traffic safety given to them. This behavior repeated itself on 5/28/24 when this intersection at 27/West finally appeared as an agenda again. No one that spoke at that May 28th meeting was a traffic safety expert but those that did speak had no issues making statements to question the validity of what they were being told those experts say.
In the meeting on 5/28/24, the DPW Director tells the Select Board that the town “recently” received a Federal grant for construction. You may disagree with me but I would not define 18 months ago as “recently”. A few slides are shown of the design concepts but the presentation that was used was from the MPO work and not the BETA study the grant paid for. Its unclear to me why that was done. Leading up to this meeting on 5/28/24, on 3/21/24 the Town Administrator and DPW Director emailed to see how to move the project forward with signals and not having to consider a roundabout but are reminded that is not the case and that the MassDOT will more than likely require a roundabout in the end. (Exhibits R1-3) All of this was clear in 2022 as you can see from everything above.
In the meeting on 5/28/24, there were good questions raised that no one had the answers to even though those questions have been known since 2022 when BETA sent the roundabout versions. Two years have been wasted in the silence. The only way to get the answers is to do a 25% Design Phase and start moving. We must move quickly because the $1.3M will expire two years from now in September 2026.
I hear your concerns that a roundabout is more expensive and requires some land takings. I also hear the experts saying that a roundabout is safer. The town had the opportunity to ask for $2M to be able to cover either option when the application for the Federal Grant was submitted but the town didn’t. In July the DPW Director and Town Administrator met with MassDOT and the BETA group to discuss all of this. As reported on 8/20/24 it was confirmed the town must consider a roundabout. (Exhibit S) It was also confirmed that MassDOT says they will assist in finding the gap funding. You may argue that none of this is in writing, but you will never get that if you don’t move forward and advance the discussion through the 25% design phase. The 25% design process is laid out in the contract the town received 26 months ago and never acted upon even though the town received the Federal Grant 21 months ago. I invite you to read it as everything is laid out and confirms that a roundabout in addition to a signalized intersection needs to be considered. (Exhibit Q).
In the Federal Grant we committed this project could be completed within 12 months and stated it would happen between October 2022 and 2023. (Exhibit C1) We were told by BETA to meet that commitment we needed to start the 25% design by May 2022. We were also told that if a roundabout is needed the project will take longer. (Exhibit N). That means that the project is a minimum of 16 months away from completion after we start the 25% Design Phase. We have 24 months until we lose the funding. If you do not act on this tomorrow we have a very real chance of losing the funds. As the saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right. There have been too many wrongs over the last two years to count, its now time to make it right before we run out of time or worse yet someone loses their life. I’m going to close with a quote from the traffic safety consultant from Nitsch that presented to the Select Board on March 1, 2022. “We don’t want to wait until a tragedy occurs. One crash may be too many for someone in your family.”
Town Administrator, Kristine Trierweiler shared her Summer 2024 TOWN ADMINISTRATOR UPDATE with Select Board at our meeting on Tuesday, and I especially wanted to share the part below in blue font which is a follow up about the planned improvements to the West Street and RTE 27 intersection. At the Select Board meeting, Kris shared that in her meeting with MASSDOT that the state said that if Medfield builds the roundabout, as the state wants, that the state would find the town all of the monies to construct the roundabout. Whereas if we opt to install a traffic light, we will have to pay the entire $1.9m. cost on out own dime, as we will lose the $1.3m. Federal earmark.
To be clear, this Select Board member preferred the roundabout from the outset. It was the other two Select Board members who said they preferred the traffic light and who asked to have Kris pursue the traffic light option with the state.
The town now has the roundabout, which the MASSDOT traffic engineers say is the safest alternative, available to the town at no cost, versus a less safe traffic light option that will cost the town $1.9m. – should be an easy choice. If the town builds the traffic lights, your family’s share would be $4-5,000.
West Street and Route 27 Project Update
Maurice Goulet, Director of Public Works and I met with Beta Engineering and the MADOT engineering team to discuss the two different paths forward for the project as requested by the Select Board. For the first path, MADOT has confirmed that if we would like to utilize the 1.3 million dollar earmark we would have to continue with the MADOT process and that would include the consideration of a roundabout for this location. The total cost of that project is $1.9, however, MADOT indicated they would assist the Town in securing the remaining funding. MADOT believes that this location would benefit from a roundabout design. The next step if the Select Board elects this option is to go to the 25% design threshold.
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.
Posted onApril 24, 2024|Comments Off on MEA’s EV Car Show Sunday 1-3 – test drives & ice cream!
From Chris Gordon, Medfield Energy Committee.
I just wanted to give you our latest flyer that has updated information, including we will have EV BMWs for test drives, and what my kids are most excited about, an ice cream truck.
Comments Off on MEA’s EV Car Show Sunday 1-3 – test drives & ice cream!
Posted onApril 5, 2021|Comments Off on Town gets $160,500 state grant
The email below came this afternoon from the Department of Housing and Community Development about the Town of Medfield being awarded a $160,500 state grant towards engineering and design of intersection improvements at West Street and Rte. 27 – which needs a better traffic signal.
Medfield
The Town of Medfield will direct funding toward engineering and design of intersection improvements at the Route 27 (North Meadows Road) and West Street intersection.
$160,500
Assistant Town Administrator, Nick Milano tells me that credit is mainly due to Town Planner, Sarah Raposa, qualifying the Town of Medfield under the Choice Community program.
Dear Chair Peterson – Please find attached a copy of the award letter for your community’s FY 21 Housing Choice Community Capital grant. Congratulations, and thank you for all the work you are doing to promote housing production in Massachusetts. Please keep this digital letter, no hard copy will be sent. Here is a link to the Commonwealth’s press release about the grant awards. I expect the grant contract will be sent to you and your staff in the next few weeks. Sincerely, Chris Kluchman______________________________
Chris Kluchman, FAICP
Deputy Director, Community Services Division
DHCD, 100 Cambridge Street, Ste 300
Boston, MA 02114
cell: 857-288-9141 *please use this number until further notice*
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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