By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer
Proponents of a workout club
planned for 547 Donald Street in
Bedford are facing a dilemma
not unique to the already congested
intersection.
“There will be more of a traffic
delay on New Boston Road
if the project is improved,” said
Marty Kennedy, the planning
board’s traffic consultant. “If the
delay is too long, people will use
the side streets to cut through.
But, at the same time, the intersection
must be safe.”
Engineers Robert Duval and
Jeff Kevan met with the Bedford
Planning Board on Sept.
25 to discuss a traffic study for
a proposed 160,000-square-foot
Workout Club and Wellness
Center near Slammers Billiards
and Route 114.
“The intersection is already
failing and improvements are
needed to at least restore it to
status quo, but we can do better,”
said Duval. “If we add a second
northbound-through lane, the
overall effect on the other intersections
is minor.”
The engineers presented a
trip report of traffic through the
area, including 300 cars in the
peak morning hour, and 500 in
the peak evening hour – 95 percent
of which pass through the
intersection.
“Many of those cars are
already on the road, so the facility
is adding roughly 200 cars
in the morning and 300 in the
evening,” said Duval. “Any time
an improvement to an intersection
is done, it is rare that all of
the approaches are improved.
Not everything will be equal or
at where it was before because
that’s not a burden anyone
would want to take on.”
Town Councilor Michael
Scanlon said more attention
should be paid to local traffic
issues, as opposed to problems
on Route 114.
“We’re going above and
beyond to help state and through
traffic, but doing it at the expense
of local traffic,” Scanlon said. “I
understand that it’s a balancing
act, but I would rather not do it
to the detriment of local traffic. We need to take care of destination
traffic before dealing with
through traffic.”
The traffic increase may
have negative effects for pedestrians
in the area, but a narrow
strip of landscaping is one of a
few obstacles to a sidewalk.
“We received a letter from
STG Realty (the applicant) and
Big Bedford Partners (the owners),”
said Town Planner Nancy
Larson. “They said they could
provide voluntary contributions
of $5,000 and $8,000 for a sidewalk
fund anywhere in town the
town council deems necessary.”
Since no such program is
in place, Town Councilor Kevin
Keyes said, the council would
probably be reluctant to accept
the contributions.