Consultant Lays Out Preferred Plan for East Milton Square

In the third and final public meeting for the East Milton Square Parking and Access Study on Wednesday, town officials and the consultants on the yearlong project presented the preferred options for the future of the square, while alleviating any lingering worries about the Town of Milton taking over any properties for parking.

“It’s not the direction we’re going,” Planning Director Bill Clark said of eminent domain takeovers of homes around East Milton Square.

At last week’s of the Business and Citizens Advisory Committee, a 15-person committee made up of East Milton residents and business owners along with Town Meeting members from across Milton, several residents expressed concern that their house could be purchased by the town and turned into parking.

While much of that meeting was dedicated to debunking those fears, Clark brought the subject back up in his opening remarks.

“We’re not going to buy your house,” Clark reiterated on Wednesday. “We don’t want your house.”

The meeting, which was attended by about 40 people at , covered the same options laid out at the last BCAC meeting. The Committee’s first priority is to improve way finding and signage in the square. Clark called the parking signs in the area a mish mash.

“We know (the signs) are all going to be looked at,” Clark said.

Beyond the immediate work of improving signs, the BCAC recommended the Hybrid Plan, which has been presented by Project Manager Keri Pyke, from Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, Inc., on several occasions.

The plan would essentially close off traffic Adams Street over the expressway and reconfigure the existing park, making it more pedestrian friendly and adding about 50 new parking spaces.

In the more intermediate term, 12 to 18 months, the BCAC also suggests a zoning change for Mechanics Street and three houses on Bassett Street. This proposed overlay district would allow for offices on the first floor of the existing residences.

During her presentation, Pyke also covered two items that were not in the draft report.

Though it was not listed in the draft, HSH and the BCAC have heard from numerous residents about cut-through traffic throughout the study. A menu of traffic calming options has been presented to address cut-through traffic on both sides of I-93.

Clark added that the Traffic Commission is holding a meeting on June 1 regarding traffic calming on Governors Road.

Pyke also pointed out the very long-term option of adding a new exit ramp at Exit 11 going south on Granite Street.

“It’s well beyond the purview of this (study), but it doesn’t mean we can’t suggest it be studied,” Pyke said. Clark added that the approval process a new exit ramp would take a minimum of seven years.

The East Milton Square Parking and Access Study Report, including the conclusions from the consultants, will be finalized on May 25. The report will then be presented to the Board of Selectmen.

Following a recommendation from the Selectmen, the normal protocol of public hearings and presentations before the Traffic Commission and the Planning Board need to be done before any construction can start.

For detailed meeting minutes and materials from the entire study, visit www.eastmiltonsquarestudy.com.