Golden Triangle Study Envisions Revamped Center

FRAMINGHAM, MA- The completed Golden Triangle Plan was presented to the Framingham City Council at Tuesday night's meeting with a vision for a 3-phase project and action plan. Framingham and Natick commissioned the study and split the $150,000 cost.

The Golden Triangle Plan was born out of a 2014 MassDOT and Metropolitan Planning Organization proposal to improve traffic flow in the Route 30 and Speen Street area. The Golden Triangle is a major economic powerhouse for both Framingham and Natick- sitting off Exit 13 of the Massachusetts Turnpike. It holds the TJX Companies, Meditech, IDG, Berg Health and The MathWorks as well as leading retailers housed at Shoppers World, the Natick Mall, and other shopping plazas.

The plan found that area development has been successful but uncoordinated and focused the future vision on three major points: transportation, development vision & urban design and zoning & regulatory changes.

Currently, the report found the area to be heavily auto-dependent, steering traffic onto Route 30 and Route 9 making those major roads, including Speen Street, the only ways to hop destinations within the triangle. The new vision promotes a mixed-use district that attracts residents, shoppers, employees and employers to live, work, shop and play in a well-connected environment that encourages walking and bicycling between destinations and minimizes the need for auto usage. Implementing a frontage road that runs parallel to Route 9 and/or Route 30 is one point made for the long term plan. The frontage road would allow patrons to easily weave in and out of plazas along the triangle without sitting in Route 9 or Route 30 traffic.

Creating a walkable and pedestrian friendly space plays into the triangle's proximity to the Cochituate Rail Trail. The current design vision shows a green space at the center of the triangle. The central wetlands could be transformed into a communal green space that connects two major greenway corridors and include a wide multi-use path and pedestrian

boardwalks through Bannister’s Meadows. While the aspirational vision of the plan sounds great it may be hard to accomplish given the land on the central wetlands has several different owners.

Now that a formal plan has been put together, Mayor Spicer and the Natick Board of Selectmen must agree to adopt the plan and agree to a shared vision that can move things forward. The next steps after the official plan adoption would be a meeting with MassDOT about an interchange redesign of MassPike Exit 13.

Other pertinent issues like zoning will take much longer to mull over. The Golden Triangle has 15 zoning districts and overlays throughout. Zoning amendments could be on the way to promote a more mixed-use district, but Arthur Robert, Community and Economic Development Director in Framingham, made the point during Tuesday's presentation that the amendments will only be successful for both municipalities if there is a shared vision and plan between the two.

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Photo Credit: Golden Triangle Planning Study