[Massplanners] State highways into boulevards

[Wayne Feiden]

We took over about 1/2 mile of a road in Northampton (Pleasant Street/Route
10) for exactly that reason (traffic calming, bicycle lanes, and especially
parking).  MassDOT was a pleasure to deal with, but it was a very slow
process. MassDOT had to approve, they needed Federal Highway approval, and
we asked them to make some design and physical changes before we took over
so that we would not immediately have to spend too much.

Wayne Feiden, FAICP, Director Planning & Sustainability
City of Northampton
210 Main St, City Hall, Northampton, MA  01060
(413) 587-1265
www.NorthamptonMA.gov/PLAN   <http://www.NorthamptonMA.gov/plan>


On Thu, Mar 10, 2022 at 3:20 PM Cousineau, Christine via MassPlanners <
massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>
>    1. Has any municipality in Massachusetts been successful in persuading
>    MassDOT to re-classify a state highway running through their town or city
>    as a municipal road? This would be for the purpose of introducing traffic
>    calming measures, crosswalks, wide sidewalks, bike lanes, and landscaping,
>    or turning a state highway into a boulevard.
>
>
>    1.
>
>    Alternatively, has any municipality acquired continuous strips of
>    private parcels abutting a state highway or major municipal road to
>    implement the same measures as above when the current ROW is not wide
>    enough?
>
> Best,
> Christine
>
> Christine Cousineau, AICP
> Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
> Tufts University
> 97 Talbot Ave, Room 301
> Medford, MA 02155
> dpt: 617-627-3394
>
>
>
> --
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>
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