Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Monday, May 21, 2012
Quick Article Index . . .
Select Board kills Central
Village sidewalk.
|
Select Board kills Central Village
sidewalk. EverythingWestport.com Monday, May 21, 2012 photos/EverythingWestport.com An urban development public safety project
that survived seven years of oversight under several different select boards,
and a near-death brush with a 200-year-old linden tree, met its demise Monday
night as Selectmen on a controversial 3-2 vote rejected the Central Village
sidewalk layout, effectively killing the project.
Central Village Public Improvements chairwoman
Ann Squire and member Elaine Ostroff immediately resigned from the committee. "The project is dead. I was
disappointed but not surprised." - Central Village Public Improvements Committee member
Elaine Ostroff "The idea of compromise is not
foreign to me," committee member Elaine Ostroff said. "But being
told there is nothing I can do isn't a way to compromise." Not to be overlooked is Elaine Ostroff's hard work and dedication in pursuing with
unwavering energy a project she believed was in the best interest of town
residents.
"Take an up or down vote tonight,"
Healey said. "(Mass) DOT won't change their mind (on the submission of a
new layout.) The two and a half hour, packed public
hearing, spilling out of the Selectmen's room into the corridor, heard
speaker after speaker give passionate views over the proposed sidewalk, but
the groundswell of resistance from some abutters fearing long-term business
disruption, liability costs from "slip and falls" during winter
months, long term maintenance and upkeep, and promising litigation to stop
the project convinced selectmen to reject the proposed layout. Many residents told Selectman R.
Michael Sullivan that they were against the sidewalks as they " would destroy the
rural character of the village."
Oddly enough, the pursuit of public
safety may have produced a road layout that endangered it, according to sidewalk
opponents. The narrowed travel lanes (11 feet)
and numerous curb cuts would restrict and even block traffic flow in heavily
visited areas like Lees Market and Cumberland Farms. Tractor trailer truck deliveries and wide
emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances would find it hard to
navigate the congested areas, and force passenger vehicles into the bicycle
lanes and even onto the curb cuts, endangering pedestrians, most of them elderly. Police observations and measurements have
shown traffic speeds average about 40 mph on Main Road through Central
Village. But the argument by road layout architect
Keith MacDonald, that the narrowed lanes would encourage reduced vehicle speed
didn't fly with many abutters, and ultimately with the three select board members
who rejected the layout. In the end it was the town's
inability to fund maintenance and seasonal upkeep of the existing sidewalks
in town that abutters feared most. Opponents of the sidewalks argued
that they simply couldn't afford business disruption during construction, liability
costs for "slip and falls" during winter months, and long term maintenance
and repair costs. "It's not a city, it's a
village," said a business abutter. "It's a driving village, not a
walking village."
+enlarge "I don't want to take up any more
oxygen in this room than is going to be taken up this evening," Main
Street business owner Al Lees said. "I'm extremely concerned about the
liability issue, repair maintenance issue that has not been addressed. I'm
extremely concerned about the business disruption." The town has allocated no funds and has
shown no interest in maintaining sidewalks.
One longtime Westport resident and
former highway surveyor said "forget the sidewalks and put the money
into repairing East Beach Road." Repairs to the storm-savaged seashore
road are still a ways off, aggravating summer trailer residents and visitors
alike. “I like Westport
the way it is,” former Selectman Russell Hart said. “I think most of you do.
I’d rather not change it.” Historian Norma
Judson spoke of how "progress is being thrust upon us." She spoke
of the effort to save the linden tree, and how important it is to preserve the
historical character of Central Village. Many town
residents spoke of the need to provide sidewalks for shoppers to browse and
visit stores within the Village without the need to use their automobiles.
John Pelletier
(above, left), who uses a wheelchair, spoke of the difficulties of assembling
and disassembling the chair as he drives from one store to another, and spoke
of a near disastrous encounter with a car while shopping in Central Village. “For you people,
it’s probably not a very big deal,” Pelletier said. “But for a guy like me,
it is.” "I'm trying
to get a vote to be taken. I might be alone tonight. If the board votes it
down then so be it. At least let's take some action on it." Selectman Antone Vieira
Above left: Pat Brost of Sisters of the
Wool was concerned about business disruption saying that "I'm trying to build
a business here, and this summer is critical to my success." Above
right: Westport Apothecary owner Joan Harb related
how she was asked by the Committee to eliminate her entrance median strip and
narrow her business entrance, which she refused to do.
Above: Westport Apothecary owner Joan Harb (left) and historian Norma Judson demonstrate the
width of the proposed sidewalk. - - - - - End - - - - - ©
2012 Community Events of Westport All
rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
