The Town Center

3D Rendering of Town Center Preliminary Design

Important Information

Parking

The Town Center has 33 existing spaces, 9 parallel and 10 angled on Boston Road and 7 by the library. The proposed design would increase the total number of spaces to 54, 17 parallel on Boston Road, 10 off street spaces, 16 in front of the library and 11 next to it.

Trees

17 of the 24 trees to be removed are either invasive or damaged. The Town will replace all trees that are removed with the goal of a net positive tree increase. The replacement trees won't be decided on until later in the design phase.

Green Space

The Town Common will grow by 11,370 square feet. This does not include the area next to River Street. The bottom right corner of the Common is growing with the reduction of Concord Road to one lane.

Traffic Flow

Under the proposed plan drivers on River Street can turn left onto Boston Road. Drivers can also turn left onto Andover Road from Boston Road. These traffic patterns are currently not possible. By making these changes, travel times will improve for drivers.

Funding

The Town's goal is to pay for the project without impacting the tax rate. The Town would do this by funding the project through existing funds like Free Cash and Chapter 90 money over multiple years. The Town will bond $5 Million for a worst case scenario. Take a look at the chart to the right for a breakdown of the different sources to fund the project.

Project Timeline

July 2023

On Wednesday, July 12th the Town held a Public Information Session to update the community on the project. The Town over the past month has gone before several Boards and Commissions to present the project and receive feedback. The Town will continue to present the project and answer questions from residents. In August the Select Board will have to vote whether to move the project forward for funding at the 2023 Fall Town Meeting.

June 2023

On Tuesday, June 13th the Town held a Public Information Session regarding the Town Center project . This meeting was also available on Zoom. The Meeting was heavily attended and many questions were asked and answered. The general consensus after the meeting was that the Project is supported but attention must be given to the Parking and Trees. The Towns goal is to have a net positive impact on both Trees and Parking.

Public Meeting Presentation 6/13

May 2023

This office has been working on a preliminary outreach plan for any affected stakeholders of the Town Center project. This will allow for many opportunities for input and outreach for residents throughout Town. Please see below for the schedule. The Town sat down with stakeholders during the summer of 2022, CLICK HERE to read more about those meetings.

Public Information Gathering and Possible Meetings

May 22nd Select Board Meeting (Special)
June 13th Public Meeting (during Neighborhood Meeting Week)
July 12th Zoom Public Meeting (incorporate input from previous meetings)

Committees Between June and August

Planning (Completed 6/12)
Library Board of Trustees Meeting (Completed 7/10)
COA Board Meeting (Completed 6/14)
Recreation Commission Meeting (Completed 6/21)
Historic District Commission (Completed 4/24 & 6/7)
Yankee Doodle Bike Path Committee (TBD)
Finance Committee (August)
School Committee (August)
Disabilities Commission (August)
Housing Authority (August)

Other Stakeholders between June and August

Business and Resident
School Department
Farmers Market (Stakeholder)
Food Pantry (Stakeholder)

April 2023

The Town and BETA attended the Historic District Commission meeting on April 5th to receive input from the commission and ask questions pertaining to the historic structures. This Presentation was given to the HDC during the meeting and recieved positive feedback from the commission and residents that attended. The points of concern brought up by the commission that the project team will be looking at are parking inn front of the library, placement of electrical transformers, and the trees.

February/March 2023

The Town is continuing to work on the design with BETA. There are Three major components to this project:

utility coordination
1. The Town has been meeting bi-monthly on the design and future coordination. The town is employing the same approach it used in the first phase of the Town Center project.
The second item has been a traffic and parking analysis.
1. The parking study is on-going and the Town is waiting for the warmer weather for further investigation.
The final major item has been working to find funding sources for the project.
1. This office has met with Congresswoman Lori Trahan, State Senator Cindy Friedman, and State Representative Marc Lombardo to present them the project.
  1. Congresswoman Trahan will be submitting a Community Project Funding request of $3,000,000 for the Town Center Project

January 2023

On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, this office sat down with BETA, Verizon, Comcast, and National Grid to discuss the utility coordination for the Town Center project. The focus was to define the scope of work for burying the utility lines, some telephone poles are located on the edge of the project and it’s in the Town’s interest to see those undergrounded.

November/December 2022

BETA group, the engineers for the Center Project worked on the design.

October 2022

Town Meeting voted to fund the design of the Town Center Project in Fall 2022.

September 2022

At the September 12, 2022 Select Board meeting BETA Group, the engineers for the Center Project, gave a presentation to the Board referenced below. The presentation reviewed the project background and existing road conditions; as well as the support of the stakeholders around the Town Center. BETA also presented an updated conceptual design to the Board referenced below. After hearing the presentation the Select Board voted to recommend the Town Center to Town Meeting for design funding.

Select Board Presentation - September 12, 2022

Town Common Conceptual Design 2022