Selectmen Continue to Back Mass. Ave. Corridor Project After Question 1 Vote

The Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed Monday to send a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation expressing its continued support for the Mass. Ave. Corridor Project, as it’s currently designed.

At the request of Selectman Kevin Greeley, the board did so in response to the recent “Yes” vote on Question 1, which opponents of the current design viewed as an indictment on it.

On Monday, Selectmen Steven Byrne and Joseph Curro Jr. called the non-binding ballot question “flawed,” and Greeley said there is “ample evidence” that the town wants the current project.

“We’re ready,” Greeley said. “We need to do this, or we lose all of the money.”

The project, which is expected to cost about $6.8 million, would be 80 percent federally funded, 20 percent state. Federal Highway called the late February hearing that delayed the project. (The town and state were already on board.)

A strong opponent of the current design, Eric Berger, a Town Meeting member from Hamilton Road, gathered enough signatures to get Question 1 on the ballot. It asked voters, “Shall the Town have four vehicular travel lanes on Massachusetts Avenue in East Arlington as now practiced?”

On April 6, 4,334 Arlington voters answered “Yes,” 4,097 “No.”

Opponents, such as Berger, believe this was an indictment, as the current design calls for three travel lanes, two eastbound toward Cambridge and one westbound toward Arlington, from Pond Lane to the Cambridge city line.

Supporters of the current design, however, have said the question was “flawed” and misleading.

“Flawed is an understatement,” Byrne said Monday.

Curro said he believes Greeley’s re-election over challenger Maria Romano, an opponent of the current design, is a “more accurate” representation of how the town views the project.

Selectman Diane Mahon said if the project doesn’t work, it can be fixed.

The following letter, signed by the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine, was addressed to Thomas Broderick, a chief engineer at MassDOT.

Dear Mr. Broderick,

The Arlington Board of Selectmen writes you today to reaffirm its support for the Massachusetts Avenue Corridor Project in East Arlington. This project has been exhaustively vetted by the Town’s engineers, MassDOT and the Arlington community. The design of this project has resulted in a proposed project that accommodates multiple modes of transit, and this design was guided by a set of goals that were determined at the outset of the project. These goals, which have remained constant throughout, are as follows:

• Improve pedestrian safety and mobility
• Improve cyclist safety and mobility
• Improve the environment for transit users
• Maintain motorist mobility
• Minimize through traffic on local neighborhood streets
• Create more orderly traffic flow
• Improve access to local businesses
• Enhance the streetscape

The Board of Selectmen firmly believes that the proposed project design meets the goals as stated above and that the construction of the project will result in a roadway focused on enhancing the quality of life in Arlington.

The Board would also like to address the Annual town Election held on April 6, 2013, during which the following non-binding question appeared on the ballot:

“Shall the Town have four vehicular travel lanes on Massachusetts Avenue in East Arlington as now practiced?”

The result of this ballot question was 51.41% of votes cast were cast in the affirmative and 48.59% of votes cast were cast in the negative.

In response to the placement of this question on the ballot by citizen petition and in response to the results listed above, we respectfully ask that you consider the following.

The Question

The question as worded provided the residents of Arlington with a false choice in regard to the project proposed for the Massachusetts Avenue Corridor in East Arlington. Simply asking whether or not the roadway should have a specific number of lanes ignores the complexity of the project and glosses over the fact that the proposed design takes into account much more than vehicular travel. The proposed roadway design focuses on maintaining vehicular mobility while simultaneously improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety. The proposed design also improves the roadway for public transit users on the corridor. We call the question a false choice because it gives voters the sense that vehicular travel lanes are the only issues we are dealing with.

Non-Binding

The Board of Selectmen would like to make clear to MassDOT that this ballot question was non-binding. The results do not have any legal effect on the local decision making process in regard to this project.

Narrow Margin

As stated earlier, the result of this ballot question was 51.41% voting in the affirmative and 48.59% voting in the negative. In actual numbers, this amounted to a vote difference of less than 300 votes. In general terms, this is a very narrow margin of victory, and given the wording of the question as described earlier, we do not consider this to be a meaningful result.

Continuing Support

Based on all that has been stated above, the Arlington Board of Selectmen remains fully committed to and in support of advancing the project as it is currently designed. It is also important to note that at the recent MassDOT public hearing held on the project design, 75% of those delivering public testimony voiced support for the project. We strongly urge MassDOT to approve 100% design plans and move the project into the bidding and construction phase.

We look forward to continuing to work with MassDOT on this important project for Arlington.

Board of Selectmen
Daniel Dunn, Diane Mahon, Kevin Greeley, Steven Byrne and Joseph Curro Jr.

Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine