Many thanks to NewTV for sharing this. Earlier post is here Wicked Local story is here.
Here’s the video from the Mass DOT Needham Street/Highland Ave. presentation
by Greg Reibman | Jan 14, 2015 | Newton | 8 comments
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
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If the private sector moved at this pace, everyone would go out of business. It took 410 days to build the Empire State Building, but Needham Street is going to take 2 full YEARS? Ha, and that’s only after another YEAR to complete the design, and then another 4 YEARS of waiting for the work to start. Not exactly government at its finest.
The only applause heard to any question asked was to the question about the lack of any attention to the urban design elephant sitting in the middle of the road having to do with the plethora of over head utilities decorating the entire .8 of a mile of its length. Has anyone noticed how lovely they are? And will they be dealt with? No!
@Blueprintbill– You’ve obviously paid closer attention to this than I have. Frankly, I’m so disgusted by the timeline for this project, I haven’t paid attention to the other details. Are you saying that the DOT is not planning to bury the overhead utilities?
Yup…DOT said that burying the overheads would triple the cost of the project. Andreae Downs suggested that they, at a minimum, bury conduit that businesses seeking to connect in the future can use.
The problem with this project…there is a big change coming on Needham Street. Clarke Companies is moving its headquarters from Oak Street to the old Polaroid building in Waltham. That means that the Northland Co. will have a 23 acre parcel (including Marshall’s, etc.) that it is very likely to want to redevelop as mixed use (with residential, retail business and commercial uses). Remember Riverside? That was 21 acres! So…any redevelopment of Needham St. should really take that news into account. We waited this long, maybe a few more years will bring us the utility-undergrounded boulevard of our dreams with green medians, traffic circles (roundabouts, circuses or whatever you want to call them) instead of traffic lights, cycle lanes, car right-turns only, and a generally appealing place to live, work and play! (Northland would have to offer infrastructure sweeteners to get City approval…the loads on storm water and sewer lines would have a huge impact on the Charles and the Villages downstream.) Maybe Upper Falls could finally get a 16th school and a playground in part of that parcel! The present plan looks to me like a continuation of the same drab 3 lane (with middle turning/speeding lane for miscreants) and pedestrians and cars forever running the danger gauntlet. Well…maybe not the same, but not better enough to warrant the millions to be spent on it!
Unbelievable!!! Spending all that money to redo Needham Street, and not burying the utilities. This is the same government agency that spent $11M to buy and remove Newton’s Pillar House.
We know that the underground gas pipelines are old and leaking on Needham Street. In fact, a manhole exploded there a little less than a year ago, caused by a gas leak: http://www.wcvb.com/news/manhole-explosion-causes-power-outages-in-newton/24606128
It was fortunate no one got injured or killed.
This roadway absolutely should not be reconstructed without replacing this underground infrastructure, and doing so could provide an opportunity to underground the electricity. If the water and sewer pipes are old and leaky also, then the opportunity for cost savings by fixing everything at once rises even further.
@Mike: It is extremely frustrating that this is taking so long. Extremely But do keep in mind that the plan is to always keep the road open during construction, which does legitimately slow things down.
I like your thinking Sallee. You missed one crucial benefit to Newton Upper Falls. Completing the greenway!
FYI, Northland tried to put in a multi-use gargantuan plan for the same parcel several years ago.
Thanks to Brian Yates and Mark Sangiolo and others for bringing the process to our attention. At that time, Northland did not hold any meetings with the village that was to be the most impacted, Upper Falls.
The design back then was that the Upper Falls’ view of this massive project was going to be the loading docks for the trucks and parking lots and trash dumpsters.
I would welcome a multi-use plan for those 23 acres that included walking trails, housing for over 55 that wouldn’t have a significant impact on the school system, truck entrances on Tower Road, restaurants, entertainment, etc.