ROUTE 79/DAVOL STREET CORRIDOR STUDY
Summary of Working Group meeting
December 6, 2012, 5:00-6:45 p.m.
Boys & Girls Club of Fall River
803 Bedford Street
Fall River, MA
Ethan Britland, MassDOT Project Manager, welcomed neighborhoods attendees to the second meeting
of the Working Group (WG) for the Route 79/Davol Street Corridor Study. He said the study team has
concluded Task 1 and the purpose of the meeting was to review the Task 1 findings with the Working
Group, get feedback from attendees, and to present Task 2.
Ethan stressed that the study was in the concept phase of a five-step planning process. As a result of
discussion by the Working Group at its September meeting, the study area has been modified to include:
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Portions of Somerset and Swansea, up to Lees River Road
Bike connectivity routes up to the Veterans Memorial Bridge (in the vicinity of Lindsey and
Brownell Street), and,
One of the project’s objectives was revised to read: Provide better multimodal connectivity
between Fall River neighborhoods and its waterfront
A WG committee member commented while he appreciated the flexibility shown in expanding the study
boundaries he still believed the boundaries should be stretched some more, to address connectivity
between the downtown/Central Street area and the waterfront. This area is very steep for pedestrians,
bikes, wheelchairs and strollers. Ethan responded that, while he understood this concern, it was not in
his authority to move the study boundary to include this area. The Federal Highway Administration is
funding the study and would not allow it to overlap the $180 million “spaghetti ramp” project especially
since the interchange project has received all necessary environmental approvals s and is about ready to
go out to bid for construction. Ethan said the study team would do all that it could to re-establish
connectivity within the Route 79/Davol Street corridor, as well as to and from the study area.
Ethan told the WG that he had been asked by a member of the group to consider starting the meetings
at 4 p.m. rather than at 5 p.m. No objection was voiced from the WG to holding future meetings at 4
p.m.
The TranSystems team members reviewed a PowerPoint presentation on existing conditions that
focused on topics highlighted below: [Questions and comments provided by WG members are shown in
italics and some are followed by responses from the project team.]
Transportation
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Service level or traffic flow for vehicles is good at most intersections.
Davol Street (northbound) at President Avenue has more than double the statewide crash rate.
There are only two places where pedestrians can cross under Route 79 and one of the locations
has no continuous sidewalks.
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The railroad is a barrier, however it can be crossed at a number of locations.
The bicycle/pedestrian counts were done on a weekday in early June. The highest counts were
between the hours of 8 and 9 a.m.
Comments/Questions
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Your statistics are skewed. A lot more people will be biking, walking and driving along the
riverfront on weekends, especially in the summer.
Please be cognizant of plans to build a new middle school on the corner of North Main and
President Streets. This will increase traffic.
Economic/Land Use
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Fall River has a higher level of low-income population compared to the state average.
Housing, commercial and industrial prices are lower than the state average.
The largest land-use type in project area is industrial, at approximately 35% of land area.
In a survey of 36 businesses that provide 500 jobs, a majority (54%) were optimistic about the
future of the area.
There are 66 acres, 50 on the waterfront side in the project area, that are predominantly either
industrial or public lands. Of this amount, 15% is vacant.
With the inclusion of the future site for the Fall River South Coast Rail station stop (named Fall
River Depot), 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.
Comments/Questions
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I think Fall River has lost more than 3,000 people in recent years.
There has been a demographic change in the last 10 years as higher income people have left the
city and the lower income population has increased due to additional subsidized housing.
Don’t compare Fall River to Providence and Warwick. They really are not comparable.
The March labor statistics are based on a formula and we feel aren’t accurate. We know that our
labor force is made up of a lot of construction workers so that what the labor picture looks like in
January doesn’t hold year round.
Everything I hear is that public transportation creates economic potential. Is our focus area too
narrow? What about expanding the focus area east of the train station?
I would like to see a bus route all along the waterfront.
The study team will examine transit service for the entire corridor
Environmental
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largest large percentage of the project area lies in flood zone.
The Taunton River provides the western boundary of the project area, and as a federally
designated Wild & Scenic River, is a significant water resource.
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The geology of the area, primarily glacial fill, enables easy construction.
The topography does not have extreme constraints.
Many of the buildings within the area would qualify as historic; cultural resources such as parks
would be afforded some protection.
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. Pedestrians and bicyclists don’t fare as well, as
there are inadequate sidewalks and bicycle paths and the existing transit loop does not cover the
Battleship Cove area.
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 sites is limited by the rail barrier from Central Street to
Pearce Street.
Natural resources in the area create opportunities such as the Wild & Scenic River designation, which
may also provide funding opportunities. The corridor has favorable geology and topography for
development. 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’s study 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 provide significant growth potential, such as Transit Oriented
Development.
There is a good supply of redevelopment sites along the river.
The Fall River Riverfront is becoming a regional draw.
Population trends suggest a growth in ethnic niche markets.
Study Schedule
Ethan Britland outlined the study schedule and projected the timing for implementation of
recommendations. He noted the federal highway trust fund is depleted, which provides a significant
amount of infrastructure funding transportation projects in Massachusetts. So there currently is no
identified funding source for any project that may come out of this study process. But if construction
funding were available when the design is complete – the following two scenarios for project
construction were detailed.
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Conventional Project Delivery Approach – Assumes Environmental Impact Statement. The
earliest construction could occur would be from 2021 to 2023 (a 3-year timeframe)
Accelerated Design/Build Approach – Assumes no Environmental Impact Statement. This
approach is estimated to take 3 to 4 years of design and construction (from 2017 to 2020), but
could be completed 3 years earlier than a conventional project delivery.
Comments
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We’d like to see a compressed construction schedule to begin in 2017. At that time the spaghetti
ramps project will be ending and we’d like to maintain momentum.
The secretary of transportation has committed to tapping into existing funds we have for Fall
River for environmental permitting and 25% design.
When does the rail project start? It would be good to have a estimate. These two projects
shouldn’t been seen in isolation because rail presents a real opportunity to change people’s
habits.
Jean Fox of the South Coast Rail Project responded that the two projects are not operating in
silos. The Environmental Assessment for the rail corridor is expected to be completed by the
spring of 2013.
The meeting adjourned at 6:45PM
In attendance:
Richard Brown, Town Administrator, Freetown
Brian Pearson, Fall River Bicycle Committee
Pedro Amaral, Office of State Senator Michael Rodriques
Bill Travers, MassDOT District 5 Project Development
Elizabeth Dennehy, City of Fall River Planning Department
Pamela Haznar, MassDOT District 5
Peter McCarthy, Boys & Girls Club of Fall River
Sandy Dennis, Fall River Park Advocates
David Dennis, Fall River City Council
Brad King, Battleship Cove
Anthony Veilleux, aide to Representative Schmid
James Bartley, Lower Highlands/Highlands Neighborhood Associations
Steven Camara, Lower Highlands/Highlands Neighborhood Associations
Kris Bartley, North End Neighborhood Association
Ray Mitchell, Fall River City Councilor
Linda Pereira, Fall River City Council President
Ken Preble, Battleship Cove
State Representative Paul Schmid
Robin Hodkinson, Fall River resident
Paul Mission, Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District
Patrick Norton, Office of Congressman James McGovern
State Representative Paul Schmid
Jean Fox, MassDOT (South Coast Rail)
Ken Fiola, Fall River Office of Economic Development
David Sullivan, State Representative
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Project Team
Ethan Britland, MassDOT Project Manager
Joe Cahill, TranSystems, Consultant Project Manager
Lenny Velichansky, TranSystems
Paul Schmiek, TranSystems
Bill Grace, TranSystems
Margaret Collins, Cambridge Economics
Deanna Peabody, TrafInfo
Jill Barrett, Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc.
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