ROUTE 79/DAVOL STREET CORRIDOR STUDY
Summary of Public Information Meeting
March 21, 2013, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Heritage State Park
Fall River, MA
Ethan Britland, MassDOT Project Manager, welcomed attendees to the first public information meeting
for the Route 79/Davol Street Corridor Study. Ethan said the purpose of the meeting was to introduce
the goals and objectives of the study MassDOT is currently undertaking, discuss existing conditions in
the corridor, receive feedback from the public and answer questions.
Fall River Councilman David Dennis made remarks at the start of the meeting. He expressed concern
about the timing of implementation of improvements to the Route 79/Davol Street Corridor. He had
hoped to see construction before the years 2021-23. The councilman said bringing Route 79 back to
grade and recapturing developable land were absolutely critical to the City of Fall River.
Following introductions of the project’s study team, a presentation was given, as summarized below.
There are three main goals for this study: (1) Identify opportunities to improve mobility, connectivity,
and safety along and across the Route 79 and Davol Street corridor study area; (2) Promote and foster
regional and local economic development potential; and (3) Improve the quality of life for residents.
The study team has identified several objectives to meet project goals. They are:
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Provide better multimodal connectivity between Fall River neighborhoods and its waterfront
Enhance multimodal access to the future South Coast Rail
Balance local and regional mobility
Improve and enhance safety conditions
Increase opportunities for economic development and land use
Minimize potential impacts to the environment and community
To evaluate how well each alternative that will be developed by the study team meets the project’s
goals and objectives, the project team has clustered numerous evaluation criteria within six topic areas:
mobility, safety, health and environmental effects, land use and economic development, community
effects and cost
Public Involvement
A Working Group has been formed to provide input to the team on the study process and to represent
respective organization with two-way communication. This group consists of representatives of local
and regional interests including federal, state and local elected officials and agencies, neighborhood
community groups, local advocacy and business groups, Southeastern Regional Transit Agency and Mass
Coastal Railroad. The Working Group has met three times.
Besides active engagement with the Working Group, two public meetings are planned. The next meeting
is expected to occur in September of 2013. Two newsletters will be published and the public is
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encouraged to keep abreast of the study progress by checking the website,
www.massdot.gov/massdot/route79.
The majority of the presentation was a review of the study team’s assessment of existing and future nobuild conditions – no build would be traffic conditions in the corridor if the existing roadway network
remained the same but factoring in the traffic conditions related to the growth of population, jobs and
shopping. Six topics were covered: (1) Land Use and Economic Development, (2) Vehicular Traffic, (3)
Safety, (4) Pedestrian and Bicycle Access, (5) Transit, and (6) Environmental.
Land Use and Economic Development
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Fall River has higher levels of low-income compared to the state as a whole.
Housing, commercial and industrial prices are lower than the state average.
The largest land use type in project area is industrial, about 35% of land.
In a survey of 36 businesses that provides 500 jobs, a majority were optimistic about the future
of the area.
With the inclusion of the future site for the Fall River South Coast Rail station, almost half of the
project area has potential for redevelopment.
The future South Coast Rail station area is 14 acres. The station area, combined with the
adjacent shopping plaza is expected to generate retail and housing Transit-OrientedDevelopment.
Vehicular Traffic & Safety
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Level of Service or traffic flow for vehicles is good at most intersections.
Some intersections have high crash rates. Over a three year period:
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Six intersections exceed the state wide average crash rate.
Davol Street (northbound) at President Avenue has more than double the state wide
average crash rate – 48 crashes in three years.
Six crashes involved either pedestrians or bicyclists.
Pedestrian & Bicycle
• There are only two places where pedestrians can cross under Route 79 and one of the locations
has no continuous sidewalks.
• The railroad is a barrier but it can be crossed at a number of locations.
• Bicycle connections within the corridor are poor but there is regional bicycle planning underway
to better link bicycle facilities.
Environmental
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The largest percentage of the project area lies within the 100-year floodplain limits as
established by FEMA.
The Taunton River provides the western boundary of the project area, and, as a federally
designated Wild & Scenic River, is a significant ecological, cultural and recreational water
resource, strictly protected.
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The geology of the area, primarily glacial fill, enables easy construction.
The topography does not present extreme constraints.
Many of the buildings within the area would qualify as historically significant.
Public recreation areas (parks) would be afforded protection under federal and state
regulations.
Opportunities & Constraints
The study team presented its view of constraints and opportunities within the project area. While there
were a few areas of higher than average crash rates and few intersections with poor level of service,
vehicular traffic operations in most of the area are good. Traveling though the corridor by bicycle or on
foot is difficult. It lacks continuous bicycle and pedestrian paths, especially between areas east and west
of Route 79.
Currently area incomes and real estate values are lower than the state average. But weak demand may
also present opportunities for redevelopment of underutilized sites on the west side of Davol Street. On
the east side of Davol Street redevelopment of site is limited by the rail barrier from Central to Pearce
Street.
Natural resources in the area create opportunities as the Wild & Scenic River designation may open up
funding opportunities. The corridor has favorable geology and topography for building. Yet, its location
within the coastal zone, its tidelands, wetlands, and significant floodplain will necessitate significant
permitting for projects.
As a built-up area with former industrial uses, there is a presence of hazardous materials that would
need to be addressed. Other cultural and human factors that will need to be considered in planning for
the corridor area: parks and open space, businesses and homes, air quality and noise and historic
properties.
Overall, the study team concluded the area had potential in these areas:
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Excess capacity on Route 79 allows some flexibility in development of alternatives.
Reconfiguration of Route 79/Davol Street Corridor will facilitate safety and circulation
improvements for all modes.
The South Coast Rail station will unleash growth potential as it will support transit-oriented
development.
o Pedestrian and bicycle access to and along the Taunton River waterfront
o Bus service to sites along the Focus Area
There is a good supply of redevelopment sites along the river.
The Fall River Riverfront is becoming a regional draw.
Next Steps
A schedule of upcoming activities was reviewed. The study team will begin to develop alternatives and
refine these alternatives in concert with the study’s Working Group through the spring and summer
months. These alternatives will be presented to the public for feedback in early fall of 2013.
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Questions & Comments
Following the presentation many members of the public asked questions and shared their opinions and
concerns. Below in italics are questions posed to the study team and responses given by team members.
Q) Was the highway elevated for flood avoidance purposes?
R) TranSystems will investigate historic documents. There is anecdotal information about flood gates
once having been part of the original design, but this has not been confirmed.
C) The project should go 200 yards further south, past the Regatta, so as to connect to the at-grade
section of Rt. 79 and completely eliminate the above grade section of the highway.
R) This area is part of the Accelerated Bridge Project (ABP). This study is not currently scoped to address
any area that is part of the ABP project area, however we will do what we can to adequately match
both project areas.
Q) Can the grade of the 200 yard section to the south of this project be reduced to bring the highway to
ground level?
R) This area, being in the ABP project area, is controlled by a strict program that the Route 79 project
cannot interfere with for fear of risking federal funding for the ABP program.
C) The turnaround could be eliminated or moved within the project area.
R) This option will be considered by the study team.
C) This plan, and the study team, is wasting resources by not resolving the 200 yard connection between
the two projects. It will negate what we are trying to achieve. What can we do to get the two studies
talking? When are we going to be heard?
R) Part of the study process is to properly coordinate with other projects in the vicinity, and we are also
in contact with the ABP staff to ensure this coordination.
Q) Was there an increase in accidents at key intersections in the vicinity of the new Morton School as a
result of additional traffic caused by the new Rt. 138 bridge opening?
R) The crash data that is available and used for the existing conditions is a couple of years old and would
not reflect changes that may have occurred since the bridge opened.
Q) Will bicycle access via Central Avenue to Davol Sreet be lost as a result of reconstruction of the
“Spaghetti” ramps? This was suggested at a recent public meeting.
R) Bicycle and pedestrian access will be included on the east side; this will be presented to the public.
Q) Was the traffic study done when the middle school (near intersection of President and No. Main) was
in session? The green circle (indicating a good level of service) at that intersection doesn’t seem right.
R) Traffic counts were taken in the fall of 2012. We will look into the traffic analysis further.
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C) The separated highway makes it easier for bikes and pedestrians by separating truck traffic. This plan
(as the team presented it) seems like a good approach.
Q) Where would bikes and pedestrians cross? Will there be more than two crossing to the waterfront?
R) The study team has not reached the conceptual design phase yet, but would seek multiple
opportunities to connect bikes and pedestrians to the riverfront.
Q) What is the study team leaning towards with respect to a design solution?
R) The study team has not yet considered design solutions.
C) If North Main Street is not evaluated, the team won’t understand the whole picture of traffic impacts.
R) This study is considering impacts beyond the limits of the study area boundaries, particularly given
Route 79 being part of the National Highway System and potentially impacting I-195.
Written Comments
One written comment form was submitted at the end of meeting.
C) I believe that Route 79 should remain separate from Route 138 for safety reasons. Combining them
would make it dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists.
C) More bus service in the area and longer service hours would help greatly so poor people have more
job opportunities in the region”
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
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