Politics & Government

NHNA Hosts Update on Add-a-Lane Project

Residents heard the latest on proposed improvements to I-95/I-93 (Route 128) and related interchanges in Needham/Newton and Wellesley at a meeting on June 11.

While the I-95 Add-a-Lane Project is designed to help alleviate traffic concerns on local roadways and make highway travel safer, several Needham residents are concerned about how the changes will increase traffic in their neighborhood.

The , which will widen both sides of I-95 (Route 128) and restore the breakdown lane to its original use, includes roadwork on five bridges in the area and the addition of a new interchange at Kendrick Street. It was that addition that drew the most questions Monday night at a presentation sponsored by the .

Held in the , the event drew more than 60 people and featured speakers Larry Cash, design project manager with MassDOT, and Darren Conboy, design consultant with Jacobs Engineering.

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Cash said about 175,000 vehicles per day travel the highway in this area of the project, which stretches from the Route 9 interchange in Wellesley south, including the Highland Avenue (Exit 19A/B) and Kendrick Street bridges in Needham, and ending at the railroad bridge located just north of the Great Plain Avenue exit (18).

The project is at a 75 percent design stage, with the goal to have plans finalized by the end of 2012, Cash said. MassDOT would then advertise the project and open it for contractor bids in the spring of 2013, with construction expected to begin by late 2013. Once construction is underway, the project is expected to take four to four-and-a-half years to complete.

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As NHNA board member Mike Verdun put it: “This is certainly going to have an impact on our town for at least the next five years.”

The project’s main focus is to widen I-95—adding one 12-foot travel lane and a 10-foot shoulder in each direction by building into the median; however, Needham residents may be most interested in the work being done off the highway.

A new Kendrick Street interchange

New ramps at the Kendrick Street bridge will allow traffic heading north on I-95 to exit onto Kendrick Street and turn right into the , but a left turn off the ramp toward the residential area (between Webster Street and Hunting Road/Greendale Avenue) would be prohibited. Vehicles leaving the park could turn right immediately back onto northbound I-95 or use double left-turn lanes to access the southbound side of the highway.

Between Highland Avenue and Kendrick Street, new collector/distributor, or C/D, roads will be constructed to allow vehicles to enter and exit the highway at both locations on a side road, without slowing down thru traffic.

A ramp at the end of the new C/D road between Highland Avenue and Kendrick Street would allow traffic to turn right into the residential area but not left toward the industrial park, making it likely that vehicles heading to the business district from the north would use the Highland Avenue exit, Cash said.

Another ramp would allow traffic heading east on Kendrick Street (from the residential area) to enter southbound I-95 on the right; however, a left turn onto the northbound side of the highway would be prohibited. 

A noise barrier will be installed on the residential side of the highway, from Kendrick Street north to Highland Avenue, and a short distance south of Kendrick Street.

Currently, in the morning, there is heavy traffic along Greendale Avenue and Hunting Road, as vehicles headed to the business park use these side streets for access to avoid busy Highland Avenue.

With the new access point at Kendrick Street, “ a lot of that traffic will be reduced significantly,” Cash said.

“The ideas is that the demand on Highland Avenue will be reduced, so instead of Highland Avenue being as tied up as it is today, people will tend to use that rather than get off on side streets to avoid those streets. It will keep traffic where it wants to be rather than trying to avoid the congestion,” Conboy said. “Hopefully, the traffic will be managed better than it is today.”

In addition, the new Kendrick Street interchange will address the potential for growth in the New England Business Center.

“Part of the reason for this was so that there is accommodation for 2.5 million feet of additional development in those office park areas, and the need to improve access was part of the original commitment in the environmental impact report and study that was done in the 1990s,” Conboy said.

Conboy said project designers have listened to residents who are concerned about access to the residential area at Kendrick Street and tried to limit those movements; however, according to Federal Highway Administration rules, they cannot prohibit a right turn, as motorists would try to make those turns anyway.

But that explanation did not answer some residents’ concerns.

Speaking to Patch after the meeting, Greendale Avenue resident Georgina Ruetenik said she was very worried about the access to southbound I-95 coming from her neighborhood.

“I don’t know if that’s going to alleviate the traffic coming from the office park,” she said of the new Kendrick Street ramps. “I think it’s still going to be a nightmare, even if they’re going to add two lanes that can turn left onto that [southbound] ramp. It’s essentially bringing Greendale Avenue, where people are turning left now [to access the highway], closer.”

Lanes for bicycles and pedestrians

In addition to new ramps, the Highland Avenue and Kendrick Street bridgework will feature new travel lanes for cars and bikes as well as sidewalks.

On Kendrick Street, there will be five travel lanes for motor vehicles. Heading west from the business district, there will be two left turn lanes onto southbound I-95 and one thru lane. Heading east, there will be two thru lanes, with right-turn access to southbound I-95. There will also be 5-foot bicycle lanes in each direction, with signs alerting motorists about passing bicyclists at the highway ramp access points. And there will be sidewalks on both sides of the bridge, again with marked crossings.

The Highland Avenue bridge also will be widened, with three 11-foot travel lanes, plus a 5-foot bike lane and sidewalk, in each direction. With more room for expansion at this site, the bridge will also feature a 2-foot buffer between the motor vehicle and bike lanes.

Removal of a railroad bridge

Another concern of residents at the June 11 meeting was the removal of a defunct railroad bridge located between Kendrick Street and Great Plain Avenue in Needham. Though the bridge is no longer used by the MBTA, there has been talk of using it in the future for an extension of the T’s Green Line, for freight passage or as a connection between Newton and Needham on the proposed Bay Colony Rail Trail.

Conboy said that before the MBTA will allow MassDOT to tear down the bridge they must provide a written commitment to restore the bridge in the future. Because the future needs are unknown at this time, restoration will not be part of the Add-a-Lane Project; however, MassDOT is responsible for restoring the bridge once its use has been decided.

Construction schedule

Though the phasing of construction is ultimately up to the contractor, MassDOT and the project design firm will make recommendations, Conboy said.

He suggested that the first phase involve the widening of the Kendrick Street bridge and construction of the new off ramp to Kendrick Street. The contractor will also install noise barriers as early as possible in the process.

Cash said MassDOT will hold a second round of meetings with neighbors regarding the noise barrier placement and design, probably toward the end of the summer.

Learn more about the project online at the MassDOT Highway Division site. A summary of the plans, as well as an aerial map, are available on the NHNA site, at needhamheights.org.

The NHNA is an all-volunteer organization which works on beautification projects in the Needham Heights area and holds informative meetings about issues and developments affecting the area about four times per year. More volunteers are welcome to assist the NHNA with its goals; learn more at needhamheights.org or e-mail nhna@rcn.com.


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