Health & Fitness
It's time for a plan
Two weeks ago, I briefly mentioned the lack of a Master Plan as a problem with properly upgrading our downtown. At the December 2nd Ordinance and Rules Committee, the City’s lack of planning became even more apparent.
Hobbs Brook has applied for a special permit to tear down a building at 275 Wyman Street to build a larger one. With a time limit on the lease by the proposed tenant, they are being asked for a traffic mitigation plan to cure the traffic problems in the area. I believe that anything that they will be required to do will amount to putting a Band-Aid on a severe hemorrhage.
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The problem is the result of the city neglecting the area for decades. In this case the city neglected to update the infrastructure of a developing commercial area while at the same time allowing residential development with no buffer zone between the two.
To this day no one has a plan to move the traffic efficiently through the area and no one has a plan to protect the neighborhoods. Making matters even worse is the fact that the DOT closed the Totten Pond Road exit off 128 N and redirected all the traffic to Wyman Street. The traffic problems through the Wyman / Smith Street area are much bigger than the Hobbs Brook development.
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Every resident of the city benefits from our commercial tax base. It is time for the city to come up with a legitimate plan for the area. The neighborhoods of Ward 2 & 3 have been ignored long enough.