Atwater Avenue seems to be the main sticking point as the Manchester-By-The-Sea Planning Board considered conditions it would require for approving the comprehensive permit for the Cell Signaling project.
Town Planner Marc Resnick proposed that a sidewalk should be added to the length of Atwater Avenue on the north side of the road to allow space for walkers and runners to be safe from the vehicles on the road. A marked bicycle lane was also discussed.
Resnick also proposed other traffic calming measures, including a center stripe down the 2,200-foot road, stripes down on the sides of the road, rumble strips at two or three spots along the road, perhaps raised bumps and other measures to slow vehicles down.
Resnick admitted that there was not the space for both a sidewalk and bicycle lanes. The current roadway is between 25 and 27 feet wide.
“What I’ve proposed is that we do a sidewalk on the north side of Atwater Avenue,” said Resnick, “and then we put a series of traffic calming measures to slow traffic down to the posted speed limit which is 20 (miles per hour). That way bicycles would feel safe in the roadway.”
But Matt Connors of Hancock Associates, a consultant for CST, said they were “very much against the sidewalk” but felt that a compromise could be worked out.
Sam Gregorio of TEC, the traffic consultant for CST, said that a standard 5-foot-wide sidewalk would reduce the roadway to 20 feet across or less. He said a normal traffic lane should be 11-feet-wide at a minimum, making a two-way roadway at least 22-feet-wide.
Gregorio said that wetlands on both sides of the road prevent widening the road. He said that a sidewalk would leave stormwater with nowhere to go unless catch basins were installed.
Gregorio said that stripes down the center or on the edges, rumble strips and other measures should be enough to slow down traffic.
Planning Board member Chris Olney asked if rumble strips would be dangerous to bicyclists. Gregorio said that the strips did not have to go all the way to the edge of the roadway, leaving space for bicyclists to safely travel, but also that signs alerting both drivers and bicyclists to the rumble strips would also make the roads safer to travel.
Planning Board member Laura Tenney suggested that Hancock Associates conduct a survey of a roadway to determine exactly what would fit.
“Doing whatever we can within the physical constraints of the roadway is important,” said Tenney.
Planning Board Chairman Sarah Creighton suggested that Resnick, the CST consultants among others get together to work out a compromise before the Planning Board’s next meeting.
Other proposed conditions for issuing the CST permit included changes to the town’s allowed hours for construction work. CST had request being allowed to start at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays, while the town restricts the starting time to 8 a.m. CST consultants had said the earlier start would allow their trucks and vehicles to not interfere with school buses and parents driving students to school on School Street around 7:30 a.m.
Other proposed conditions include maintaining a license with the Trustees of Reservations over access to their trails from the loop road, resurfacing Atwater Avenue, maintaining lighting levels that don’t affect neighbors, and maintaining a performance bond of an undetermined amount to assure that the project is completed.
The public hearing on the CST project was continued until August 12, when the board will have more discussion about the list of conditions on the project. If a consensus is reached on the remaining issues at that meeting, then Creighton said, the board may be able to close out the process at its September 9 meeting.
Foth Infrastructure
The Planning Board voted 6-0 to approve the special permit to repair and raise the Tuck’s Point public dock. Planning Board member Peter Morton was absent from the meeting.
The approval of the special permit included several conditions, all related to maintaining the current appearance and historical accuracy of the rotunda and the public dock.
Concerning the other two proposed repairs and expansions of the Reed Park Floating Dock and the Morss Pier Fishermen’s Facility, Harbormaster Bion Pike spoke about what the changes would mean to the harbor.
Pike said that the projects would add about 500 linear feet to the town’s docks. The town now has about 250 linear feet reserved for transient boats, which generally stay in town from one to four days.
The new piers will be equipped with water pipes and electricity outlets that the visiting boaters can plug into.
One area of debate was whether the extended docks should have lights. Planning Board Chairman Sarah Creighton said she opposed the lights because, while the docks are busy in the summer, they are mostly vacant the rest of the year.
But resident Paul Stone (no address given) said the lack of lights might create a safety issue, especially if an out-of-towner tied up, visited one of the town’s restaurants in the evening, and then had to maneuver their way back to their boat in the dark.
Pike suggested that lights with motion detectors or that only came on when someone was walking the docks at night was a possibility.
Pike said all the expansions would be pile-supported docks, although there are several ways of creating those docks. Pike showed photos of various pile-supported docks from harbors around New England.
He said that the project at the Morss Pier would include 14 new pilings, although one of the piles that might interrupt the scenic view of the harbor and could be eliminated.
Pike added that the project at Reed Park would include the installation of more benches for people to sit and enjoy the scenery.
Catherine Bilotta of the Select Board said that the Select Board was generally in favor of the projects, making the harbor front more accessible and that the influx of transient boaters would be a big help to local businesses.
Pike said that a study from several years ago showed that for every $1 a transient boat paid to tie up at the town’s docks, they spent $8 at local businesses.
The Planning Board will discuss conditions for the Reed Park and Morss Pier projects at their August 12 meeting.
