By Jennifer Myers, jmyers@lowellsun.com
LOWELL -- The greatest hurdle faced by developers of the $800 million Hamilton Canal District redevelopment plan, the reconfiguration of the Lord Overpass, has reached a happy resolution.
Members of the Jackson, Appleton, Middlesex Business Resident Business Association (JAMBRA) protested loudly earlier this year when Trinity Financial, chosen by the city to develop the project, unveiled a traffic plan that would have eliminated the bridge connecting Middlesex Street to the Lord Overpass.
The plan would have re-routed the 8,000 cars that travel on Middlesex Street daily to the 280-foot long Revere Street and onto Appleton Street to get back to the overpass.
"The change would have dramatically changed the JAM district and essentially would have left Middlesex Street a dead-end," said JAMBRA founder Karen Bell.
Bell added that the loss of overpass access from Middlesex Street would be detrimental to Nobis Engineering Inc., an environmental engineering firm that invested $5 million to rehabilitate the 21,000-square-foot historic Davis Sargent Building earlier this year, as it would have been cutting it off from the rest of the city.
Rob Woodland, president of Woodland Design Group, the traffic engineer on the project, explained that the design was intended to mitigate the existing capacity issues on the overpass by simplifying traffic flow.
"Middlesex Street is the worst offender for back-ups on that overpass," he said. "The original plan allowed us to eliminate two of the four traffic signals on the overpass and improve the efficiency of the traffic flow, but obviously it had a negative impact to the businesses on Middlesex Street."
City officials brought in a consulting traffic engineer to look at the proposal with fresh eyes and after a little tweaking and cooperation between residents, the business community, the city and developers' revised proposal, presented to the public Thursday night, was hatched.
Middlesex Street stays as is.
"With this alternative, the Lord Overpass will be used to bring traffic onto the site, but then Jackson Street can be used as a relief valve to exit traffic back onto Thorndike Street, bypassing the overpass entirely," Woodland said. "We managed to make it work. It is a fresh look with a different approach."
The overpass roads will be widened and the traffic signals will be re-timed to create a smoother flow of vehicles.
Additionally, Fletcher Street will connect straight through to Jackson Street, and Broadway Street will be extended across Dutton Street and into the Hamilton Canal District, connecting the Acre neighborhood to the downtown.
Fletcher Street will be widened where it meets Dutton and Thorndike, allowing vehicles to take a left-hand turn onto Dutton Street.
"This is economic development at its best," said Bell. "It was a great collaboration between all parties involved and I cannot think of a single person who is not thrilled with this plan. It makes access to the site work while including the considerations of the surrounding neighborhoods."
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Saturday, August 9, 2008