The Construction Proposal

A proposal has been submitted by Paul Mastroianni to the Planning Board for a new sub-division on 102 acres of land between the center of town and Route 495, just south of West Main Street. This will be the largest residential development in town since Legacy Farms.

This proposal would connect two cul-de-sacs – Chamberlain Street and Whalen Road – to form a thru-way that would create a serious safety issue on roads not designed for thru traffic in neighborhoods with many families of young children. The new roadway would have two wetlands crossings, one of which is very substantial in size. This cut-thru would drastically change the two neighborhoods in such a way that there would be no going back.

Chamberlain Street currently sees a high volume of pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The Center Trail terminates midway on Chamberlain Street, brings many runners and cyclists throughout the day, and with its proximity to Hopkins School, the Athletic Fields, and to the new Elementary School, pedestrian and bicycle traffic is only going to increase. At the same time, Chamberlain Street is a flat, straight road that can easily encourage speeders. While residents are generally respectful of the speed limit, visitors, delivery vehicles, and others consistently travel at more than double the stated speed limit. Furthermore, parts of the street are narrow and have no shoulder, as there are wet lands on both sides. Connecting Chamberlain Street to Whalen Road would substantially increase the number of speeding, non-resident motor vehicles and significantly increase the risk to all of the pedestrians, runners, and cyclists that use the street.