 interesting. Oh, no, it goes also just. All right, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the Amherst Community Chat for Thursday, January 28th. Today, we have two special guests joining myself and your town manager, Paul Baucherman. First, we have planning director, Chris Brestrup joining us, as well as Amherst Town Engineer, Jason Skeels, with the great background there that you can see. So before we get started, I just want to remind folks that you will be able to ask questions live. You can use the Q&A function within Zoom. You can press star nine if you're calling from a phone to raise your hand or raise your hand with Zoom and we'll bring you into the room live to ask your question. So before we have our guests introduce themselves, I will give Paul a chance to give any updates he has. Thanks, Brianna. So there is a ton going on in the town and Chris will test to that. There's a lot of projects in the planning department. First and foremost for us right now is getting the vaccine into people's arms. We have been doing phase one, which is in effect until it continues and then phase two begins February 1. We have done over 500 first responders and medical workers so far at the Banks Community Center. We will be moving into phase two or at this point we're only allocated 100 doses of the vaccine for phase two. So we will continue to offer that and continue to advocate at the state level to give us additional vaccines. We're responsible for eight communities on this of Hampshire County on this side of the river. So that's a drop in the bucket to what our need is. You should be aware that the town staff are prepared and set up to do thousands of doses at the Amherst High School when they become available. So we're prepared for it. It's just a matter of supply at this point in time. There's been a lot of confusion at the state level, mixed messaging at the state level. We're handling a lot of phone calls from folks, so we appreciate your patience as we get through it, but we will be moving forward very productively, I think. So that's the big thing for in terms of news and what concerns people the most, Brianna. Thank you. Thank you for mentioning that, Paul. We've been getting a lot of calls and emails and we're hoping to have more details for folks soon about how to get the vaccine. So I'm going to ask Jason Skeels if he'll introduce himself. Tell us a little bit about his role in the town, how long he's been working for the town. So take it away, Jason. Hi, Jason Skeels. I'm a town engineer. I work at Public Works. Been here a little over 20 years, if I include my intern years. I don't know. I work on all sorts of planning and design projects, review plans. You name it. It's a mixed bag. All right. Great. Thank you, Jason and Chris. I know you're not, this is not your first appearance here, but why don't you introduce yourself to the folks who are listening today? Hello, I'm Chris Brestrup, Planning Director and I also had intern years here. So I'd say I'm up with Jason at about 20 years working with the town. It's been a great time and it's been really exciting and lots of different things are happening and it's very rewarding work. The Planning Department is involved in a lot of projects working on things like we just finished Graf Park, which was really a terrific collaboration with the DPW. We're going to be building a playground in Kendrick Park. We're working on the intersection of Pomeranian Route 116. We've got zoning initiatives and we also do a lot of permitting. So we're really kind of, we do lots of different things. And like I said, it's very exciting and each day is different. So I know today our main focus was to talk about the Pomeroy Village Center project, Pomeroy Lane Intersection Project. What is, what's exactly the name? What are we calling this? I think we're calling it Pomeroy Village Intersection, aren't we, Jason? Yeah, it's been in the works for several years. So yeah, but I think that's our main focus now is that. So I know probably people who are here might know a little bit about the project already. Is there like a quick explainer sentence or two, maybe more that you could say what this project is before we start it with questions? Well, we're looking to improve the existing signalized intersections that they're either with a potential roundabout project or an improved signalized intersection just to make everything function a lot better, safer, and more efficient than it currently is. So the problems are that there really aren't very adequate sidewalks. I don't think there are any bike lanes. Infrastructure for bicycle travel is really limited. The bus stops are very minimal as well. And so what we're trying to do is make it easier for people to get around in that intersection, including vehicles. We want vehicles to be able to traverse the intersection without a lot of interruption. And right now there's a lot of queuing that goes on north of the intersection in the afternoon when people let out from UMass. So we're trying to make it better for everybody. Great, thank you. So I'll encourage the new people who've just joined that we'd love for you to ask your questions. You can go into the Q&A or raise your hand in Zoom, star nine from the phone. One question I think that is out there, and you might have mentioned this, Jason, a little bit. You've been working on this for a while. What's the history of this project? And, you know, how long has this been in the works? Boy, so 116 used to be State Highway. So they came up with an intersection plan 17-ish years ago, maybe a little more. The town decided they wanted a little bit more of a hands-on approach to the intersection design. So we ended up taking over large stretches of 116 as a townway. And then we've been working on a design and working on funding. Ever since then, off and on, as opportunities came up for funding, we would apply. So we've applied a couple of times, I think, and this time we finally got the MassWorks grant, which is great. Now we just need to fit the project to the budget and we'll move it forward. Can one of you talk a little bit about what the importance of getting the MassWorks grant and what that process was like, and just a little bit about what that is for people who are tuning in? So MassWorks is a kind of one-stop shop for lots of different kinds of infrastructure projects. And they have a grant program whereby they give money to cities and towns to do infrastructure work. And what that means is work on roadways or work on sewers or different things that all the people in the town share. And each town puts forth its idea of a project and it usually needs to entail some sort of economic development and also increasing the number of jobs in the area for people. So we had to show that the work in the Pomeran Lane intersection would be beneficial for economic development. There's some proposed development that is going to occur in that area and that it will also improve the jobs for people who work around here and live around here. So it's not just an infrastructure project, it has bigger goals and outcomes related to it. So what's included in the plan? Is it just going to be roadways or are there other elements to the project that people can expect to see improvements in? Well, there are going to be new sidewalks probably on all four legs of the road. New, I shouldn't even say new, we're going to put in curb ramps so people can get down from the sidewalk onto the road and crosswalks for all four legs of the road. Bus stops, I think there's a bus stop north of the intersection on the west side of the street and a bus stop south of the intersection on the east side. So those two will be improved. There's a bus stop on Pomeran Lane going towards the Munson Library which is also going to be improved and then we'll be putting in facilities for bicycles to make it easier and safer for them to get through the intersection. And in the case of the signalized intersection, if we decide to go that route, we would put in new and improved traffic signals. And this question might be more directed towards Jason and his capacity as an engineer. So this person's noting that sometimes traffic can really get backed up here. Will this project address that situation? In either case, we would have a much smarter system whether it's a roundabout that can handle the traffic a lot smoother or if we go the signalized intersection route, we would have a smarter controller with more automated detection that wouldn't, if the automated detection sees a backup, it extends the leg of that green light. So in either case, roundabout or signalized intersection, it'll be a more intelligent, you know, more current standard of traffic flow. So it would, it should, we should be able to overcome anything that would, you know, any of those backups. So we have a question from someone in the room. We talked a little bit about this, but they're asking if these improvements are also meant to support development in this village center. It sounds like you talked a little bit about that. Is there anything more you can say about how this project will support development? Well, we understand that one of the property owners on the northwest corner is proposing a new residential development probably on the order of eight to 10 or possibly 12 dwelling units. There are already a couple of mixed use buildings in that area and just north of this is a property that has a house on it, but it doesn't really have much else in that and that could be developed into townhouses or apartments. And it's going to be a small, like I said, it's probably eight to 12 units. In addition to that, we know that some of the commercial property owners there and business owners want to expand their businesses. So this may provide, you know, a benefit to them as well. That's great. Thank you. I think one thing people always ask is about traversing these areas with their bike and trafficking on their bike. So are there any specific elements? I know you mentioned bike lanes. Can you talk a little bit more about the bike lane component of this project and maybe Jason, if you wanted to start? So in either design case, again, roundabout or signalized intersection, we've talked about having dedicated bike lanes at least, you know, minimum three, maybe four feet wide in the road, as well as having a potential multi-use path on one side of the road, be the west side of the road. We're looking at about an eight foot wide multi-use path. So that, you know, it's sort of for cyclists of all levels. There's, you know, you've got the more competent cyclists that want to be in the road or the more, you know, maybe the family with younger kids that don't want to be out there in the road and they can use a more dedicated wider bike lane or bike path, multi-use path. So Jason, you live in Amherst and you are a dedicated bicyclist with a family who are bikers as well, right? So you get it. I've seen you ride your bike in the Hadley just for events. So yeah, my girls love going for ice cream on the bike path. So there's been a lot of talk from both of you just in this short chat between enhanced signalized intersection and then a roundabout intersection. So sounds like maybe those are the two options that you're weighing. Would it be helpful if we kind of, we brought up some slides from your presentation that you made the other day to just show folks what the difference are between those two things. And then there's the question who gets to decide how it will be, how will this be decided if it's a roundabout or an enhanced signalized intersection. So if that's helpful, I'm going to bring up the slide that talks about the enhanced signalized intersection first. And then if either of you want to speak to that, feel free. So this is a signalized version. So in this we would get two dedicated left turn lanes, both northbound and southbound. And that's a lot of times the problem with the queuing is there'll be a car making a left hand turn and then traffic gets backed up behind them. So by adding the dedicated left turn lane, you have space for the straight through vehicles to fit through while the light, while the signal is active. And you can do, there's all sorts of combinations you can do with dedicated left and straight or different phasing opportunities to keep the, you know, keep the traffic queuing down. You can see, well it's hard to see at this scale, but the sidewalk on the west side or left side of the screen is the eight foot wide multiuse path that would accommodate cyclists and other users. And then you've got, we've extended sidewalks down Pomeray Lane on both sides. And you can see the bus pull-offs get moved further away from the intersection so that they're not in conflict with the queued traffic. And should I flip over to the roundabout? Okay. And so on the screen now we've got a little bit of information about the roundabout intersection. So if either of you would want to speak to this. I mean, this is very similar. It takes up a little bit more space. We'd need a little bit more of a property taking on all the four corners. But, you know, we've had a lot of success with the roundabouts. They really improved intersection safety. They allow for multimodal users like bicyclists and vehicles to kind of exist in harmony. And then again, the same scenario here, we've got the multiuse path. On one side and extended sidewalks on all four sides. And so how will the decision be made? And at what point will the decision be made? Which direction the town will go in? There are going to be conversations over the next several months about this. And the members of the public will be brought into the conversation. The ultimate decision is with the town council members. And they need to make that decision by, I believe it's by June, because that's when the project really goes into full, full, you know, whatever. I don't know, full drive, I guess. That's when the engineers really start, you know, surveying everything and doing their engineering work and putting their construction drawings together. So they need to have an answer from town council by June to know which direction to go in. But meanwhile, we're going to be doing a lot of public outreach to get the public's input on this project. And I'm glad you mentioned that, Chris. You know, so one new tool that we're hoping to use for this project in terms of public participation and input is our Engage Amherst site that's about to be officially launched, where we'll have information on the project. And at key intervals within the project, we'll have the opportunity for the public to weigh in on elements of the project. So here's another question from the room. Will the design take into account possible need for pedestrian bike access to Hickory Ridge, assuming the town acquires that property? That's a good question. Hickory Ridge is kind of far down the road. And there are issues with regard to crossing a wetland on West Pomeray Lane. So that is a little bit more of a challenge. It's not actually part of this project to connect to Hickory Ridge. But I think eventually that would be something that the town would want to do. For the amount of money that we have available to us, which is $1.5 million, sounds like a lot, but we have to kind of keep our focus on the actual intersection itself in order to get this project done for the amount of money that we have available. Great. Thank you, Chris. So I have another question in the room. It's kind of a pivot from what we're talking about now, but that's okay. It's very topical. How often does the town get new additions of the vaccine allotments? Well, what they have told us to expect is 100 doses a week through February. And I think that we are continuing to advocate to get additional doses from the state, because we think there's a great need here. We are responsible, as I mentioned earlier, for the eastern part of Hampshire County. And so that's a pretty big catchment area. And so if we can get more doses, we could get more doses into people's arms. We have the capacity. So but right now it's a weekly allotment. And if we get an allotment, we have to use it within 10 days, which we could easily do. And just to be super clear that 100 doses per week for right now is not just for Amherst. It's for all eight of the communities that we're servicing, just to kind of keep that in context. But may I interject something? I believe that others will be distributing vaccine as well. So it's not just the town of Amherst that will be distributing vaccine, but at some point the state will make arrangements with pharmacies and doctor's offices to do this as well. So it won't just be limited to the 100 doses that the town of Amherst has. Exactly. And one of the things that we're recommending for folks is if they are able to get their vaccine another way from a provider or an additional clinic that does get set up to not hold off to get the vaccine as soon as possible wherever they can safely get it from. So good addition there, Chris. So we let me see if the room, any hands in the room, any questions in the room live? Raise your hand in Zoom, star nine from your phone or use Q&A. So I have a question for Jason. I think if we were to, we're going to move forward on this project, but we have to have construction completed by 2024, is it? Is that right? I believe so, yeah. The funding is 2022, and then, yeah, construction would be complete. I think we've got it. If everything goes to schedule, we'd probably be thinking more that it would be complete summer 2023 or spring 2023. So we'll be leading into FY 24, which would start in July, right? So what people should expect is that we'll be doing design during the course of the rest of this calendar year for the most part in community engagement because we know this is a big topic for every, in fact, it influences a lot of people, impacts a lot of people, and that, but once we get the design done, we do that go out to bid, and then there's the construction. It'll be a big construction project, I assume, for a months, right? Yeah, it'll take a while. It's a lot of work, and especially to make, to allow traffic to get through as well and do the construction, ends up, you know, dissecting your construction job into parts and pieces. They can't just close the town and build it. That would be easy. But yeah, they'll have to be detours and, you know, diversion, traffic diversions here and there while it's going on. Oh, go ahead. I was going to say we have a question in the room that's probably relevant to both Jason and Chris, but on a different project. Can you describe who will do what at Kendrick Park to finish the playground by the deadline? The contractor is out there working now, even as we speak. Well, not today. Not today, all right. They had to pack it up for, it's frozen. Oh, after it's done. Everything's frozen solid, so he had to take a break, but he was, he was busily working last week on getting the drainage in. So over the course of the next few months, they have to finish by the end of May, I believe. Yeah, there should be plenty of time in the spring. All the materials are getting ordered now, so there shouldn't be any hold-ups with anything like that. He's got the base ready at least. He's, you know, he's, they got in as soon as they could when the weather permitted. Yeah, and all the play equipment has been ordered and it's being stored. Yeah, that's all stored. So June 2021, we'll have a new play space on Kendrick Park, it seems. Yeah. That's great. All right, so I'm going to give another chance, as we close in on our half hour here, another chance for people in the room to ask their questions, to pop their questions in the Q&A or raise your hand. While I'm waiting for that, I'll just take a quick chance to plug the vaccine info session that we're going to have next week on Tuesday, February 2nd at 7 p.m. with our Public Health Director and Dr. Drs. Garcia and Levin from Cooley Dickinson Hospital to provide some vaccine information, as well as allowing a chance for people to ask their questions of our special guests. So that is next Tuesday. The information is on our calendar, on our website, and on our social media channels. All right, so I don't see any hands live. Is there anything, Chris, Jason, that you wanted to say about the project, any call to action for folks, anything you want to leave people with regarding this project or other work that you've got going on? I wanted to say that things are going to look a lot better once this project is done, whichever plan we choose, because it's kind of messy and deteriorated right now. So we'll be fixing up the street and the sidewalks, but we'll also be adding some trees, which will really make things look better. So it's really going to be a much nicer entry into our town than it is currently. So it'll be something to make us proud. And I think that's a good point, Chris. You know, you come in from certain parts of town, you get to see that nice roundabout that we have downtown with our welcome signs. Would that be something similar as people approach Amherst from the self now? Will they kind of get the sense that they've arrived? I hope so. And, you know, we do have a wayfinding sign system project that we're working on right now. We didn't go as far south as the Pomeranian Lane intersection, but that could certainly be something that we could consider for the future to put in some signage down there, some welcoming signage. I think one of the ideas on this is it'll help solidify the Pomeran Village as a place. It'll help people feel like they can navigate through their on foot, on bike, and go and stop and visit some of the businesses and help to spur additional business development as well. Right now, we understand that there are people who work over in the offices who like to go across the street to get a meal, and it's challenging for them to cross the road right now. And what's not noted is the proximity to many of the large apartment complexes on East Hadley Road that is actually quite walkable with the purchase of Hickory Ridge. We'll be able to put some walking paths in through there. So I think that that's a huge advantage and one of the benefits of this project. So this project has been around since the late 1990s. I did some research, and that's approximately when the state was promoting its very wide, very sort of overblown version of this intersection. Highway intersection was the design concept. I heard it compared to an airline or, excuse me, an airport like landing strip. Runway, yeah. It used to have just four stop signs. Is that what used to be there? Just two stop signs. Two stop signs. And a lot of broken tail lights and headlights. I used to go down there in college and they were pretty close to, you know, you could count on at least one accident a month. Well, I would go through that intersection when I was in college at Hampshire and that because that was the closest liquor store. Not that I bought liquor at that age, but you know. But R&P was at a different location at that point. So I do not see any additional hands. And I know, Chris, you got a chance to give us additional information. Jason, is there anything else from like the public works engineering perspective that we didn't get to touch on today that you want people to know? I mean, I guess I would put a little bit of a plug in for the roundabout design. They really do improve safety. I know some people are down on roundabouts and there's a lot of people get anxious about them when they're in the still in the conceptual phase, but they really do improve safety. You can't control people driving through the signalized intersection. People can still run stoplights, whereas the roundabouts, they create that sort of natural traffic calming. They reduce all the conflict points, so there's not as many big dangerous t-bone intersection collisions. So they really are a much safer intersection design when we go towards the roundabout designs. It reduces speeds, reduces conflict points, and just makes it overall safer as far as, you know, especially with vehicular crashes. So I would plug the roundabout if there are any things then. Team roundabout over here. We'll get you a t-shirt. Okay, so I am going to say for the folks who are listening, this is going to be recorded if you needed to share it with friends, neighbors, or anything like that. We'll have more information coming out on how you can follow the project, stay updated on the information, and when it comes time to share your feedback, we'll have that all posted in all different ways on our website and on our social media channel. So please stay tuned for that. If you want to see the full presentation that was made, you saw a couple slides of it, it is available up on the recording from the council meeting from Monday, January 1st, January 25th, excuse me, and it's also part of that packet, which you can find online at amherstma.gov slash town council. All right, Paul, any last words from you? Oh, appreciate everybody being here. All right, thank you. Thank you all, and thank you to Jason and Chris. We will see you all next Thursday at noon. Have a good one. Bye.