Dedham School Traffic Study Questioned After Documents Revealed

Contributed by Jean Zeiler, September 13, 2019

DEDHAM, MA - State documents have recently been revealed that are casting new light on what otherwise might have been a routine traffic/circulation study being conducted in Dedham, MA. The lack of transparency has raised the eyebrows of citizens and civic groups such as the Friends of the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail, which is advocating for the development of the abandoned rail corridor as a community path that could provide a safer route to school in this densely populated area of town. The revelation that Town officials have withheld key information to the public has also caught the attention of state officials involved in the granting of millions of dollars for the construction of the new Avery Elementary School at 336 High Street in Dedham.

Overseen by the town’s School Committee, the traffic study was voted on and approved on November 26, 2018 at the Fall Annual town Meeting. Town Meeting Members voted to approve Article Eight, Appropriation for School Circulation Study to assess the increasingly complex transit issues around what has evolved into an academic campus in the center of town over the last decade. This campus hub now includes the new Avery Elementary School, Dedham Middle School, and Dedham High School. At the time of the November Town Meeting vote, documents detailing the Town of Dedham and Dedham School Department’s agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which would have informed the scope of the study, were not presented to Town Meeting Members.

Missing from the information presented to Town Meeting Members during both the May and November Town Meeting sessions included two letters from MassDOT’s Secretary and CEO Jeffrey Mullan written on December 8, 2010 outlining the Town of Dedham and the Dedham School Department’s obligations to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. These agreements were required to unlock approximately 11 million dollars of funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the construction of the new Avery Elementary School.

The letters outline conditions mandated by the State and agreed to by the Town and School Department, after a public hearing on October 22, 2010 that was attended by the Town’s Building Commissioner and State Representative Paul McMurtry, as well as others from Consigli Construction, MassDOT Rail Unit, and Dore & Whittier Architects.

Mullan’s letter provided “consent to the issuance of a building permit to build a new elementary school at 336 High Street in Dedham, MA”, contingent upon the stipulation that “the proposed construction will not adversely impact any potential transportation use.” Furthermore, the letter underscores the requirement the "building should be sited and constructed to allow the future construction of the Dedham Rail Trail" and “to optimize bicycling and walking access, in keeping with MassDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program…in accordance with MassDOT’s GreenDOT Policy, promoting bicycle, pedestrian, and transit use.” While the eventual funding was authorized by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, MassDOT’s approval was a critical part of the process to unlock those monies.

Town Meeting members were also not provided with the MassDOT’s additional parameters around the “responsibility to preserve the former railroad property,” which intersects part of the multi-school campus, as per Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 54A.

This letter providing consent for the permit was sent to Town of Dedham Building Commissioner Kenneth Cimeno, as well as an additional copy of the same letter to “the applicant.” Despite repeated requests for a copy of the second letter to learn the identity of the other Town official who was notified, no letter has been made available.

While the Town of Dedham apparently took receipt of the state funding with explicit, written notification of the obligations around permitting consent, the Dedham’s School Committee has thus far shown no sign they intend to adhere to those funding requirements. The current traffic study, for example, being conducted by the civil engineering consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB), has not considered the Town’s obligations and opportunities to explore the impact of using the proposed rail trail to promote pedestrian, biking access, and safe routes to school.

Since this documentation from the State has come to light, procured only after a public records request to the State by town resident Dr. John Dashe, more than twenty-five residents have emailed the School Committee and Superintendent to ask whether the VHB consultants conducting the circulation study will consider these conditions mandated by the State.

As Dr. Michael Cocchi, a member of Dedham Heritage Rail Trail’s leadership team notes, “These residents have received a muddled and unclear response or, in most cases, no response at all. Of course, the tragic irony is that, since the time the new Avery Elementary School was built, two students and one cyclist have been hit by cars in that vicinity – which underscores that this area is not safe for pedestrians and cyclists, and was presumably part of the impetus for the circulation/traffic study currently underway.”

One Dedham School Committee member openly dismissed the commitments to the State, referring to them as "unenforceable." However, the financial, contractual and legal obligations was made clear to the Town in order to make for the construction of the new elementary school possible.

Additional documentation secured from the Commonwealth, namely the MassDOT Agency Polling List from November 5, 2010, includes MassDOT’s Bicycle-Pedestrian Program Coordinator Josh Lehman’s directive that the proposed Avery Elementary School is “sited and constructed in order to optimize bicycling and walking access in keeping with MassDOT’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.” The document also includes Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Transportation Planner David Loutzenheiser’s assurance that “MAPC and the Town of Dedham has (sic) resolved all issues in regards to the future use of the right-of-way,” which is a reference to the 10 acre (approximately 1.3 mile) abandoned railway that runs from East Street to Readville train station.

Loutzenheisner is referencing a letter signed by Dedham’s former Superintendent June M. Doe and former Town of Dedham Town Administrator William G. Keegan that “supports the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in identifying the former Dedham Branch Rail Right-Of-Way as a future shared use path that would eventually connect downtown Dedham with the new elementary school to the Readville Commuter Rail Station.”

The letter goes on to state, “In support of this endeavor, the Town of Dedham hereby commits to the following: A minimum of 50 feet of clearance (no structures) through the existing right-of-way shall be maintained to accommodate a future shared use path; access through the existing rail right-of-way, and future driveway, shall be allowed for future users of a future shared use path.”

Former Selectman Paul Reynolds remains hopeful about the current situation, “Who knows why critical information was kept from Dedham Town Meeting Members and voters. But the good news is that, with access to the facts and agreements made to secure millions of dollars of state funding for the Avery Elementary, the citizens of Dedham finally have the information they need to make their own, informed decisions about the issues at hand.”

The Friends of the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail in a recent statement noted, “We remain committed to efforts that protect Dedham’s children with as many options for safe routes to school, supporting all policies that advance biking and pedestrian uses, and, ultimately, getting before town residents with a vote on the rail trail corridor with full and accurate information.”

For more information about the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail project: www.DedhamRailTrail.org.

Jean Zelier is a Dedham Resident, Member of the Friends of the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail leadership team. Zeiler is also an experienced employment and labor law attorney focusing on employment matters on behalf of employees. Zeiler was also former General Counsel of the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards, and Acting General Counsel/Deputy General Counsel of a nationwide union.