Children's Hospital in Waltham Looking To Expand

Waltham City Councilors say they are worried about a proposed expansion of Children's Hospital in Waltham about traffic, according to the Boston Globe.

Children's Hospital in Waltham plans to add a new three-story building, loading zone and entrance to their existing facilites, according to the newspaper. They would also tear down several existing facilites and add more parking to the existing 1,800 spaces, according to the Globe. They would also replace the existing powerplant. The new additions would bring the site to 500,000 square feet.

Construction would not begin until after the hospital submitted a request for a special permit, according to the Globe. Children's officials told the council they have no timeline for the project but would construct the new facilities all at once, instead of in phases, according to the Globe. 

Children's Hospital officials presented their plans during a Monday, No. 26 City Council meeting after councilors inquired in 2009 about the company's future expansion plans. 

Despite the plans, some residents and councilors expressed concern that the new facility would increase traffic in the area. A Highland Avenue resident said she hopes a traffic study would be done. Children's officials said they had followed the wishes of the city Traffic Commission and planned to widen Highland Street. Currently, drivers are only allowed to make a right off of Highland Street, which could tie up traffic. However, widening the road would allow for a left turn, according to hospital officials. 

Councilor Robert Logan said, in response to a traffic study saying 117 cars would make a left turn into the Children's site each hour, that would cause major backups, according to the Globe. 

For more details, visit Boston.com.