A proposed project to build a roundabout on the Northampton side of the Coolidge Bridge is making progress, but some are wary of the gridlock the construction will create and question whether the project is needed.
Scheduled to begin in 2018, the project would create a two-lane roundabout, additional bike and walking paths and improvements to the turning lane onto I-91 south, costing an estimated $5.7 million, according to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
The idea sprang from a regional transportation study by the PVPC, which predicted population growth in Pioneer Valley and proposed infrastructure to accommodate it. Some of the initial ideas were more ambitious and intrusive, including a plan for two roundabouts and a second bridge across the Connecticut River.
Growth hasn’t quite panned out to the levels suggested in the study, said Ryan O’Donnell, vice president of Northampton City Council. “I think the predictions of population growth may have been overestimated.”
Some wonder whether even the scaled-down project is needed.
After 31 years of business on the corner of Route 9 and Damon Road, Dan Webster, owner of Webster’s Fish Hook, knows the area traffic flow. He said the project is an unnecessary inconvenience.
“Nobody knows more about this corner than I do,” Webster said. “Traffic flows really well through here right now since the work they’ve done on the lights.”
Webster has attended all the meetings for the proposed construction for the past three years. While there have been plenty of ideas to alter the intersection, Webster said he thinks a roundabout is far from the most effective — and could even be dangerous.
“Boston has a lot of roundabouts. There’s a bunch of guys in Boston whose mission it is to put roundabouts everywhere,” Webster said. “But you’re going to get people coming in from out of state who have never seen a roundabout before and they won’t know what to do. There are going to be a lot of accidents when it opens.”
There was a simpler option, Webster said, which would involve buying two properties near the intersection and adding another turn lane onto I-91 south.
“They could have done that for one hundredth of the cost and they could have done it in a month,” Webster said.
O’Donnell said he has heard from residents who share Webster’s dread, and also from those who welcome the idea of a roundabout. O’Donnell also said state Department of Transportation data support the need for the project, and the agency would be responsible for the construction process.
MassDOT did not respond to questions about the project from the Gazette.
Whatever its promise, the project will make traffic worse before it makes it better, since the Coolidge Bridge is the only direct route from Amherst and Hadley to Northampton. But since funding is tight, there’s a pressure to move forward, O’Donnell said.
“This is one of those cases where infrastructure money isn’t flowing freely, so when it becomes available and we can improve a very important part of our transportation infrastructure, that’s worth embracing,” he said.
The funding will come from both state and federal dollars, said Tim Brennan, executive director of the PVPC. MassDOT’s five-year spending plan, which allocated funds to infrastructure projects statewide, gave most of its money to maintenance projects. The proposed roundabout project was among the few expansion-related projects to be funded, Brennan said.
“A lion’s share of projects the state put into its spending plan for five years are for upkeep of the system,” Brennan said. “This project is really changing the system by the introduction of roundabouts. It’s an expansion project and it’s unique in that regard. I’d take that as a good sign.”
In a random poll, the Gazette spoke with about a dozen people who were skeptical about a roundabout coming to their neighborhood.
Jerry Budgar, former head of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association, said he was part of the planning process years ago, when discussions about a roundabout were developing.
“We heard from a lot of bike folks and pedestrians who had a hard time navigating it,” he said.
Still, he said, that was several years ago and he understands why people are skeptical of the project.
“I think the state needs to do a whole lot better a job at managing these projects,” he said. “There’s probably fear and I think that’s legitimate.”
And indeed the Gazette did find some mistrust of MassDOT among residents. Sheila Moos, 69, of Marshall Street, said she’s long felt the department is unable to plan and maintain its projects. The highway underpass that serves as the gateway to her street, she said, is something she’s been trying to get the state to properly maintain for decades.
“I would like to spit in the eye of the state,” said Moos. “I’d be all for the roundabout if they clean up that mess.”
Moos said the state’s “embarrassing” lack of maintenance is something not lost on her, especially as she drives along highways in other states.
“The DOT in Massachusetts does a very poor job,” she said. “So God only knows what they’d do here.”
Greeted with news of the project planned not far from her front steps, Vanessa Calderon’s initial reaction was not positive.
“Oh, wow — that’s scary,” said Calderon, of Hubbard Avenue. “It seems like a difficult area to have a roundabout in.”
Her neighbor across the street agreed.
“Massachusetts just thinks they can solve anything with a roundabout,” said Olivia Biller, 25, of Bridge Street. “I just don’t think it’s congested enough. I honestly think it might make the intersection more dangerous.”
David Pascucci, 67, said he has seen traffic increase slightly each year since he moved to Marshall Street in 1979, but he’s unsure if it’s enough to warrant a roundabout.
“I can see the traffic backed up a little more each year,” he said. “I don’t know if a roundabout would do anything about that.”
Scott Jarvis, 51, of Crosby Street said the root cause of the traffic is in Hadley.
“I think the problem for traffic is in Hadley,” he said. “No matter how you cut it, there’s your problem right there.”
Bicyclist David Kinzler, 28, of Hubbard Avenue said he’s never had an issue at the intersection.
“Right now, it’s quite easy for cycling,” he said. “There’s good visibility.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.