Mattapoisett’s Bike Path Committee has spend over two decades working through requirements set by state and federal agencies, local bylaws, wetland concerns, easements and, of course, funding – a true labyrinth if ever there was.
Now in March of 2017, all that hard work and persistence is very close to making the next phase of the bike path connection between Fairhaven and Marion a reality.
But not without a few more bumps in the pavement.
On March 9, long-time member and current chairman Steve Kelleher told those in attendance that easement issues were close to resolution. He said that state conservation agencies, the Department of Environmental Protection and Coastal Zone Management had reviewed the path’s wetland crossings and mandated that it be moved 20-feet closer to the Mattapoisett River away from marshlands. That small design modification, Kelleher said, now requires new easement negotiations with the three property owners – the YMCA, the Reservation Golf Club, and the McIntire family.
Kelleher said that Town Administrator Mike Gagne was handling those negotiations but had assured him the plan modifications were “minor” and should not hold up the project.
Kelleher said that plan changes would be brought before the voters during the upcoming May town meeting.
In a follow-up with Gagne, he stated in an email response to the question of what will appear on the town meeting warrant regarding the bike path easements, “It’s premature, legal is working on it, it is in the process.”
In the good news category, Kelleher said that 100% design of Phase 1B was now in review by the Department of Transportation – a process that takes up to 90 days – but that T.I.P funding (Transportation Improvement Program) was committed. The amount awarded to Phase 1B of the Mattapoisett Bike Path is $4.5 million.
Now that the plans have been completed, Kelleher said it was time to work more closely with both the building department and conservation commission to ensure full compliance with those governing entities.
Long-time advocate, committee member and organizer Bonne DaSousa updated the group on safety issues at the intersections of Mattapoisett Neck Road and Brandt Island Road.
DaSousa said an ad hoc committee set up by the selectmen to review safety issues and solutions at those two intersections had uncovered yet another “very complicated” process. She said that in the absence of a fully engineered plan – one executed by a “traffic engineer” – the state would not consider or allow the town to make changes.
“Any changes have got to comply with the uniform traffic control division … it’s more confusing than you can imagine…” DaSousa said.
DaSousa explained that the federal government oversees all manner of traffic safety signage to ensure national uniformity. “We have to spend the money to do a traffic study then get it blessed,” she said.
The selectmen had hoped to provide motorists and bicyclists with additional safety measures at the two intersections based on concerns that both categories of users were at risk. The speed limit on Mattapoisett Neck Road is 40 miles per hour and 35 miles per hour on Brandt Island Road. Ad hoc committee member Police Chief Mary Lyons had investigated various types of traffic signs from lighted portable speed displays to new paint colors on crosswalks. And while both the committee and the selectmen were eager to provide new visual safety measures, changes cannot be made at the local level without first receiving federal permission, DaSousa stated.
DaSousa also shared that the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path, a private group supporting the town committee, was planning fund raisers to help finance the bike path where it crosses through the Mattapoisett Industrial Park acreage. “We are not ready for a public discussion on this yet,” DaSousa said, “…but are committed to paving…” a half-mile stretch in this area.
DaSousa emphasized in a follow up to the meeting that, “People think of bicycling as recreation, but in Boston it is critical for getting cars off the road.” She said, “Our young people are going to be moving to urban areas … they need to know how to share the road … road safety is critical.”
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Bike Path Committee is scheduled for April 13 at 7:30 pm in the town hall conference room.
By Marilou Newell