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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-03-02 Mineral Street Bridge Task Force MinutesMineral Street Task Force Meeting March 2, 1994 The meeting was convened at 7:40 p.m. at the Conference Room in the Reading Town Hall. Present were George Nines, Francis Doughty;, Marie Murphy, Anthony Guarciariello, Bernice Herrick, Bill Goodrich, Gail wood, Michael Slezak. Also present were Dan Ensminger, Gretchen Latowsky, and Gerald MacDonald as interested parties and Bill Robertson, the Town Engineer, as invited guest. George Hines indicated that Gerald MacDonald would soon be replacing Dick Coco as the FinCom designee to the Task Force. approval of Minutes on a motion by Goodrich and seconded by Doughty the minutes of the February 16, 1994 meeting were approved by a vote of 8-0-0 with the following amendments. two items would be added to the "information needs" list i.e. item 12) effect of bridge replacement on adjacent property values. item 13) roadway and property line layouts from bridge. Gail Wood will make corrections to the Feb. 16, 1994 minutes. A hint enter On a motion by Doughty and seconded by Slezak the Task Force voted 8-0--0 to appoint Bill Goodrich chair. Traffic Study Bill Robertson proposed that the Task Force consider having the Town fund a traffic study on some key intersections on both sides of the bridge. The results of this study could be used by the consulting firm to project future roadway conditions with the bridge re-opened. He said that the firm of McDonough & Scully, Inc. could complete this Phase 1 study in four weeks for a cost of about $4000. Copies of the Scope. g Serviona prepared by the firm were distributed to the Task Force members by Pill. The Task Force will decide on this proposal at .a future meeting. Discussion of the MHQ proposj Bill Robertson handed out copies of his September 23, 1993 and two (2) November 16, 1993 memos to the Town P°'i.anay. _r oa concerning replacement options and funding for the bridge. Fill said that he had spoken with ._iim Alexander of MHD and confirmed that the state will let us: build either pedestrian or vehicle bridge which will be funded with 80% Federal and 20% State monies. The fends: for the pedestrian bridge bay.^uld come out of i . _ . T E ..A . funds Intermoda l Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, and would be available in fiscal 1995---1996, The Town would have to support its decision to build a pedestrian only bridge in a request to the stare with data concerning residential traffic counts, the use by the elderly, students, bicycle traffic, trip use to library, schools, public support,etc. Dan Ensminger asked Bill if we Mineral Street Task Force Minutes-- March 2, 1994- page (2) could get. all this in writing from the state. Bill said he would ask but he didn't think they would. January bridge inspection Bill Robertson handed out a copy of the latest MHD inspection report. The report recommends that one stringer and two spans are in danger of failing and must be removed ASAP. Its still ok, however, for continued use as a pedestrian bridge. Deliverables Bill wanted a clarification of what the Task Force wanted from the Engineering office. He said he could complete a survey of the intersections proximate to the bridge in a week or two. He was asked to get copies of the deeds for the bridge and adjoining properties. Draw up a plan showing property lines and overlay the proposed vehicle and Pedestrian bridges. He was also asked to scare up any information on the extent of existing sideaaalks on Mine, Mineral, King, etc. Open Discussion Bernice Herrick reported that. the information she received from the school department indicates that of the 294 students enrolled at the Barrows School (203) live in the area between Lowell and West Streets. The list of from Parker Middle School indicated that of the 404 enrolled( 56) live on the Vine Street side of the bridge. Anthony Guarciariello handed out copies; of the results of his count of pedestrian use.of the bridge during the preschool and a.fterschool hours of February 17 and February 15. The results indicated very light use of the bridge on those days. A total of ( 13) in the morning and( 32) in the afternoon. A count of students crossing Summer at King street on the afternoon of February 13 totalled (44). According to the King Street crossing guard, she generally crosses 10 students during the winter months and 30-40 during the fall. and spring months of the school year. Gretchen L..atowsky suggested that a count of students crossing West Street at King Street be included in any future study. Francis Doughty suggested that. the Task Force solicit infcrmation from real estate agents on the effect of the bridge opening on property, values. It was decided instead that George Hines ask the Town Manager to get that information from the Town Assessor's office. Mineral Street Task Force Minutes-March 2, 1994- page (3) Meeting was adjourned at 9;45 p.m. The next, meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 9, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall. Reading Fire Chief will attend to discuss response time.