Leeds Bike Trail Extension Walking Tour – Oct 6th at 4:30

A walking tour of the MassCentral Rail Trail Extension project which will run along the Mill River from Mulberry Street to South Main Street in Haydenville has been scheduled for October 6th at 4:30 by Wayne Feiden. The walking tour is not a preliminary walk, it is required to be given to the hired engineering firm under the Request For Proposal. Representatives from Pro Terra Design Group will be on the tour and available to hear your input  about the plan.

Leeds residents are invited to go along on the walk. Many of you may have responded to the Mill River Greenway Initiative’s Leeds’ survey regarding trail usage and surfacing. Some of you may have attended the public meeting about the trail project at Leeds School back in March. Attending the walk is an additional way for you to share your thoughts and concerns about how the final MassCentral Rail Trail Extension should be designed. The Mill River and the rail trail that currently runs beside it are important and unique features of Leeds. The design of a bike extension should be undertaken with as much input from Leeds residents as possible. Drainage, run off, trail width, surface choice, cost of future maintenance of the trail,  who will be responsible for such maintenance, amount of trees to be lost, invasive species overtaking cleared areas are all aspects to be seriously considered and openly addressed before a responsible design can be drawn up. The walk will begin at 4:30 PM. Please meet at the north end of Grove Avenue where the bike path begins.

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$190,000 available for Leeds traffic calming

Community Meeting Oct 6th, 7:00, Leeds School

Your comments, traffic observations, and suggestions are needed at this Leeds community meeting. We asked Wayne Feiden, Director of Planning and Sustainability, to detail the sources of the funds and where they can legally be spent. His explanation follows:

Total funds received: $199,690 from Chestnut Extension ($47,500) 64 Reservoir Road ($4,000), Zoe Life Care ($152,350)

Funds spent: DPW legal ad ($160), DPW mitigation already made (we do NOT have a final accounting but for planning purposes assume $10,000.)

How can the dollars be spent and where?

1. Any improvement that reduces traffic on Main Street, Florence Street, Leonard, and Front Street because that would offset increasing traffic from Zoe Life Care and Chestnut Extension. This could include rail trail on ramps at the northerly Look Park entrance and at Main Street in Leeds center. It could also include Hotel Bridge just for the $4,000 from 64 Reservoir Road.

2. Any improvements that make roads safer in the area that we expect the traffic impacts from these projects, whether it be traffic calming or sidewalks or intersection safety improvements.  For the Zoe Life Care funds that is Main, Florence, Leonard, and Front Streets and possibly East Center Street.  For Chestnut Extension it could also include any of the streets north of Florence Street and east of Route 9.  For the small amount from Reservoir Road it could include improvements on Reservoir Road.

3.  ALL costs have to be durable capital costs. Crosswalk signs, for example, of the type we put in the middle of intersections are NOT durable and disappear and are not capital costs. All hard surface bricks and mortar projects are fine.  Crosswalk and pavement markings are OK ONLY if the marking starts a process that DPW agrees to maintain but not if its a one time application that will disappear in two years.

Please take time to think about the options Wayne has laid out and bring your thoughts and ideas to the meeting.