SOUTHAMPTON — Plans are moving forward for new infrastructure on Pomeroy Meadow Road to help give students a safer route to Norris Elementary School, including new sidewalks on both sides of the road, a student drop-off lane and crosswalks.
It’s still early in the planning stage, with designs at 25% completion and construction slated for 2028. Town officials and representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) presented current plans at a public hearing Sept. 23 at Norris.
“Intents of the program is to provide the infrastructure to walk and bike, and then hopefully (less) cars come and that way people feel safer with their children walking and biking to school,” said Linda Walsh, MassDOT’s manager for the project.
The project dates to 2023 when conceptual designs were drawn up, but it took a step forward in July last year, hitting 25% project design submittal.
“The overall goal of this project is to connect William E. Norris Elementary School to the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Marissa Mottolese, a design consultant for the project from Tighe & Bond of Westfield.
Most residents who spoke were worried about how their property would be impacted, having to deal with snow removal of the new sidewalks and overall traffic impacts.
Resident Kaitlin Rooks, however, said she was excited about having a safer way to let her child, a Norris student, get to school.
The improvements are being made through MassDOT’s Safe Routes to School program, which aims to increase safe walking, biking and overall accessibility for students. The project is expected to cost about $1.7 million, 80% of which would be paid by the Federal Highway Administration and the rest by MassDOT.
The project would span nearly half a mile, from the intersection of Pomeroy Meadow Road and Route 10, also known as College Highway, to Gunn Road Extension on the other side of the school. The project would help bring the span of road into compliance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
On the side of the road the school’s on, plans call for an 8-foot-wide shared-use sidewalk, intended for both walkers and bikers. On the other side of the road, there will be a 5-foot-wide sidewalk. Additionally, the road will be repaved with new crosswalks, several curb bump outs and some utility poles will be relocated.
Eileen Bourque of Pomeroy Village, a condominium complex on Pomeroy Meadow Road, wanted information on traffic impacts, especially during peak school pick-up and drop-off hours.
“There’s 31 owners that are trying to get out of Pomeroy Village and sometimes you just can’t go during those hours because it’s impossible to get out,” Bourque said, adding that she was also concerned about students with e-bikes on the sidewalk.
Alex Fagnand, a consultant with Tighe & Bond, said the curb bump outs will help slow drivers down.
The road lanes will remain the same width at 10-feet each. For a portion of the road on the school side, there will be a new 9-foot-wide student drop-off and pick-up lane, an addition that drew multiple comments. Some people were concerned about the lane, while others were hopeful that it would stop people parking on that side of the road, a common occurrence even with no parking signs.
Police Chief Ian Illingsworth said parking on the side of the road is an issue the department has dealt with, though Fagnand said the new curbs would help prevent that.
Notably too, is that there will be a 3-foot-wide grass buffer area between the road and the sidewalk. Highway Superintendent Randall Kemp said the buffer would help keep snow pushed to the side by plows off the sidewalk and properties.
Resident Sandy Klich isn’t totally convinced and worries about potentially dealing with snow on the new sidewalk. Southampton has a bylaw that requires residents to clear sidewalks in front of their property.
“With the plows that come through and the backings of snow like that, there’s no way I can maintain that. Nor do I think I should have to pay someone to maintain something that doesn’t belong to me,” Klich said.
Construction will take place mainly during the summer months, when the sidewalk will be closed. Closures of Pomeroy Meadow Road will be kept to a minimum, and all homes will remain accessible. Once the project is complete, the town will maintain the new infrastructure.
Residents also worry about how much of their property will be impacted by the project, with many questions centering on right-of-way easements. Plans currently call for three permanent easements and 15 temporary easements during construction, but that could change as the project progresses, officials said. Any right-of-way costs will be the town’s responsibility. There are nearly two dozen homes located on Pomeroy Meadow Road, including the Pomeroy Village condos.
Design plans show that properties will be impacted according to a right-of-way line. Any affected property owners are going to be contacted prior to construction and the Department of Public Works has copies of preliminary right-of-way that outline how each property may or may not be impacted.
