Residents of a small street between Arsenal and North Beacon streets want one entrance to their street closed to traffic.
On Tuesday, the Town Council heard the first reading of the proposal to shut off traffic coming onto Beacon Park off of Arsenal Street. The street has two other entrances onto North Beacon Street.
Residents of the street told the town they worry about Beacon Park becoming a cut through from the Arsenal Street, said Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon. The Arsenal Street entry to the street is directly across from the new apartment complex going up at 202-204 Arsenal Street.
While motor vehicles would not be able to use the entrance, the town would maintain the entryway for bicyclists and walkers, Magoon said.
Under the proposal, half the roadway would remain. Magoon said this is because a home on the east side of the entryway has a driveway onto that portion of the street and the homeowner did not want to relocate the driveway.
“A new curb line will be established on Arsenal Street, and necessary drainage improvements and sidewalks will be installed,” Magoon said. “The central area will be restored with vegetation and could also be the location for a stormwater demonstration project.”
Neither the Council nor the public commented on the proposal Tuesday. The project will be back at the Nov. 10 meeting where a public hearing will be held.
Closing of the outlet from Beacon Park on to Arsenal Street would be great! I live on Beacon Park across from the outlet. That outlet is used constantly by pass-thru drivers now to get to North Beacon Street from Arsenal Street or vice versa. It increases the traffic in the neighborhood substantially. With 300 new rental units being built directly across from Beacon Park and another 300 unit building being built off Irving Street nearby along with a new food store and retail outlets as part of the developments the traffic will overwhelm the small residential Beacon Park neighborhood. I do use that outlet on a regular basis, but have no problem limiting myself to major thoroughfares in the area.
Before closing off individual streets I would suggest the town look into the bigger picture. Closing of individual streets may direct more traffic down the neighboring streets. I live on Frank Street in between Arsenal and Beachwood. The mouth of the project is right in front of Beachwood which has a daycare center on it with very little room for pick up and drop off. Cars already barrel down my street Frank when they hit the light at Beachwood to bypass it. When the project is finished there will be hundred of cars leaving at the highest traffic times sending them right down Beachwood and Frank. It is concerning that we are not working together as a community to make the town look at new pass through streets which won’t affect the neighborhoods. Athena and the Arsenal Project have plenty of land the town should look into using for these pass through streets. Much of it goes unused while the community suffers.