It's time for a plan

Two weeks ago, I briefly mentioned the lack of a Master Plan as a problem with properly upgrading our downtown. At the December 2nd Ordinance and Rules Committee, the City’s lack of planning became even more apparent.

Hobbs Brook has applied for a special permit to tear down a building at 275 Wyman Street to build a larger one. With a time limit on the lease by the proposed tenant, they are being asked for a traffic mitigation plan to cure the traffic problems in the area. I believe that anything that they will be required to do will amount to putting a Band-Aid on a severe hemorrhage.

The problem is the result of the city neglecting the area for decades. In this case the city neglected to update the infrastructure of a developing commercial area while at the same time allowing residential development with no buffer zone between the two.

To this day no one has a plan to move the traffic efficiently through the area and no one has a plan to protect the neighborhoods. Making matters even worse is the fact that the DOT closed the Totten Pond Road exit off 128 N and redirected all the traffic to Wyman Street. The traffic problems through the Wyman / Smith Street area are much bigger than the Hobbs Brook development.

Every resident of the city benefits from our commercial tax base. It is time for the city to come up with a legitimate plan for the area. The neighborhoods of Ward 2 & 3 have been ignored long enough.