There will be a public presentation on the proposed McGrath Square Redesign project at the January 30 Framingham City Council meeting, District 2 City Councilor Brandon Ward posted on his Facebook page. “Please come, listen, and participate!” City Council meetings usually begin at 7 pm and are available via Zoom as well as in person at the Memorial Building (City Hall, 150 Concord St.). The agenda and Zoom link will be posted on the city’s Public Meeting Calendar.
The Council will be considering $300,000 in funding for the design work as well as $450,00 for sewer improvements in preparation for the project to be added to the city’s fiscal year 2025 capital improvement plan, Ward said.
Last I saw and reported on the Saxonville intersection improvement project, it was late 2020 and the project was at 35% design stage. At that community meeting, attendees were told the $4.2 million project was expected to get underway in 2022. Project plans at that time included:
8-foot-wide on-street parking on the southbound side of Concord Street in front of Saxonville Mills
A third pedestrian crossing at Water and Central Streets (on the side of the street across from the Sudbury River) as well as new pedestrian crossings on Concord Street and Fuller Street and Danforth Street
New traffic flow that would stop northbound vehicles at Danforth Street instead of Central Street so left turns onto Danforth would be less dangerous (I’m mystified why that wasn’t done years ago, even with just “stop here on red” signs)
among other features. I’m not sure what if anything has changed beyond the expected start date.
At that time, my major disappointment with the plans was the lack of real accommodations for bicycles beyond painting icons on road lanes also used by motor vehicles. I suspect that few hobbyist cyclists would feel safe in heavy traffic sharing the same space as cars and trucks, simply because there are icons painted on the road. Unfortunately, a lack of separate bike lanes would make it difficult for residents living north of the Saxonville business district to access the Cochituate Rail Trail safely by bicycle. There’s since been talk of a bike path off Concord Street through the area, but I don’t know its status.
You can see my 2020 write up of the McGrath plans at Saxonville Intersection Improvement Update, although things may have changed since then. I can happily report that bike parking has already been added at the city parking lot off Concord and Danforth streets.
The 2020 project PowerPoint presentation is still online as a PDF at https://www.framinghamma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/40422/Final-PowerPoint-Saxonville.
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