Planning Board To Request On-Street Parking For Consideration Of Route 28 Redesign
Falmouth Planning Board continues to make headway with its discussions about the Davis Straits remodel and how Complete Streets factors into that vision, specifically when it comes to on-street parking.
The board received an update on the matter of Davis Straits on-street parking at its December 14 meeting. Board member James Fox said he has participated in walks through the area and various discussions on the value on-street parking holds in a neighborhood such as this one.
On Main Street, where there is on-street parking just steps away from numerous storefronts, Mr. Fox said that the rent per square foot is significantly higher than it is just a half-mile down the road.
“A big part of that is retail likes foot traffic,” he said. “Retail loves retail; they like to have stores across the street from each other, lots of crosswalks, people seeing each other on the street and as soon as you go past Shore Street, it immediately starts to change. By the time you get to the end of Main Street at Davis Straits, some people don’t even want to ride their bicycles on that road—it’s so dangerous. I really think that if we’re going to make Davis Straits work, that we have to have a central core with parking lots and sidewalks and walking made for people, not for cars.”
“This is the time to do it, too, because the state has not completed their plan for that area,” said board member Patricia Kerfoot.
The board has been looking to refresh the area that stretches from Davis Straits for some time and has been heavily considering its options for doing so in a way that will attract more pedestrians. One of the biggest obstacles to this, however, is the nature of Route 28, which is a state highway that runs through the center of town out to Davis Straits and Teaticket.
The conundrum for the board is that Massachusetts Department of Transportation is also looking at reconfiguring Route 28 to implement better traffic flow through the area. Based on the October 5 conceptual design meeting organized by the Falmouth Department of Public Works in conjunction with Mass DOT and Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., the on-call traffic consultant firm for the town, it looks like the state tentatively wants to maintain Route 28 as a high-speed, high-volume road. Although the plans for the roadway redesign have not been fully formed yet, the planning board members acknowledged that maintaining Route 28 as a high-speed state highway would be at odds with their goal of creating a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with retail, office, and residential spaces.
“That’s going to be our battle,” Mr. Fox said. “They may not agree with us.”
Assistant Town Planner Jed Cornock said that at the most recent meeting of the working group for the town’s remodel of the area, an informal vote was taken to ask the planning board to send a letter to the DPW and its consultants by way of the planning department, requesting that on-street parking be considered as the group moves forward in its planning of the typical road cross-section in that area. He added that the working group is actively seeking feedback for the redesign and the sooner it sends over its thoughts about on-street parking, the better. Board members agreed, and discussion turned to what kind of cross-section they think would be appropriate for the area.
Chairwoman Charlotte Harris said the proposed cross-section as shown at previous DPW conceptual design meetings is too wide and does not fit what the board is looking to do for that area. She said that ideally, it would more resemble the tight-knit, neighborhood feel of Main Street, which would require a significant decrease in the speed of traffic on Route 28.
Board member John Druley pointed out that the area is quite expansive, so they need to determine exactly on which stretch of road they are looking to implement on-street parking. Mr. Fox said, ideally, it would reach Jones Road from the start of Davis Straits near the old Friendly’s.
Mr. Druley also noted that it would be in their best interest to try and concentrate retail areas, rather than spread them out all down Route 28.
“People don’t want to shop everywhere,” he said.
“But you can have houses there, too,” Mr. Fox replied.
“In front of your house,” Mr. Druley asked, “would you want street parking?”
Mr. Druley was of the opinion that the board be strategic about where to put on-street parking, and suggested that they keep it limited to the area of Falmouth Plaza along Davis Straits toward Main Street, because that is where the retail will be concentrated once the plaza is remodeled, which is another project that is in the planning stages.
Both Mr. Druley and Ms. Kerfoot made the point that a lot of the properties along Davis Straits between Dillingham Avenue and Jones Road were once residential, and on-street parking would be very difficult to implement because the homes are built very close to the road as it exists now.
Board member Robert Leary referenced projects in Boston in which the streets were not widened but a cross-section similar to that being considered for Davis Straits was implemented with a sidewalk, bike lane, and on-street parking.
Mr. Fox said that considering density, especially with new housing bylaws allowing for up to 20 units per acre, alternative parking solutions must be considered.
“It’s going to be really hard to do it but we’ve got to try,” Mr. Fox said.
By the end of the discussion, the board was in agreement to send a letter to the DPW requesting that on-street parking from the corner of Davis Straits by Falmouth Plaza to Dillingham Avenue be looked at and, if possible, exploring extending that through to Jones Road.
“I’d be thrilled with the Plaza,” Mr. Fox said. “If we got that much done in our lifetime, I would consider it a great success. But I think we should still have the vision for [further down] the road. Maybe don’t do it right away, but it should still be the vision.”