The East Arlington group whose members see a state memo calling for more changes in revamping Mass. Ave. as vindicating what they have been saying for 18 months is pushing its interests on a numbers of fronts, including engineering and legal. Town officials say changes called for in the memo are routine in such projects.

Eric Berger, a retired teacher and school administrator who is a member of East Arlington Concerned Citizens Committee (EACCC), says he is paying for legal representation and an engineering study.

"I went searching for a law firm to help me, a private concerned citizen, fight a plan that I thought was unsafe," he wrote in an e-mail May 6. "On my own, I identified [Clark, Hunt, Ahern & Embry of Cambridge] as one that I could work with."

March 25 memo on Mass. Ave. project (PDF)

In a letter of May 3 to town Planning Director Carol Kowalski, attorney Michael J. Rossi of that firm says the selectmen's vote of Aug. 10, 2009, supporting the project to that point violates state law. The letter cites MGL 82 & 17, which says a town may not "diminish the width" of a highway.

"With the proposed addition of the of bike lanes on Mass. Ave.," the letter continues, "there is no question that the project plans ... would result in the narrowing of Mass. Ave."

Berger also hired a civil engineering firm, Civilworks Inc., of Dover, N.H. In a March 17 report, David C. Lynch of that firm makes these points, among many others:

— The project area "does not display any unique crash rate statistics which would infer and inherently unsafe condition currently exists."

— Significant backups at key intersections will continue to occur if the project is built.

— Study is not now required but needed coordinate the signals at Lake Street and Brooks Avenue, at the Hardy School.

—  Construction may not be completed until 2014, so plan designers should project conditions in 2024 rather than the current 2018.

Read the full report at http://www.yourarlington.com/pdf/town/10/lynch_report-310.pdf

The $5.7 million project, to be paid for with federal and state funds, aims to revamp Arlington's main thoroughfare from Pond Lane to Alewife. Plans have been publicly discussed since October 2008. 

Members of the EACCC, seeking to make their views clear, met with town officials Thursday, May 6, at Town Hall. A condition of the meeting was that reporters be present. The publisher of YourArlington and the editor of The Advocate took notes.

Sheri Baron, a 33-year town resident and an EACC member, said she thought it "suspect" that a memo about the March 22 meeting at Mass. Highway did not show up until after the April 10 Town Election. She said she learned about the memo April 2. YourArlington published a story about the memo a week later, the day before the election, and published the memo itself April 17.

"How did you know" about the memo April 2? Town Manager Brian Sullivan asked Baron.

Baron declined to say, and Sullivan responded, his voice rising: "We're open here; I expect you folks to be open."

Baron asked whether the points in the memo were discussed March 22. Laura Wiener, who is the town's point person on the Mass. Ave. project, said only an outline was handed out. The memo detailing meeting is dated March 25.

"I find it hard to believe," said Maria Romano, an unsuccessful candidate for selectman April 10, "that there was no communication" from Mass. Highway to the town between March 29 to April 8. She said her assumption is that the "lapse in communication had to do with the election."

Following further discussion about the import of the memo, Sullivan said: "My concern is that you are trying to politicize this. This is the normal process. The Summer Street project also had a lot of questions [raised]."

Shortly thereafter, Sullivan suggested he might leave the meeting, but he did not.

"There is no transparency," Romano said. "Forget the election. The issue is safety -- that's our concern."

Sullivan said the town did not get a copy of the March 25 memo in a timely way. "We're not here to talk about the issues on the project," he said. "We're here to talk about the process."

Berger read from the memo in detail, pointing out the word "flawed" and the call for a "full submittal." Sullivan interjected: "I've read it."

Told that the design firm Faye, Spofford & Thorndike (FST) is under contract for $400,000, Berger asked whether it would be retained, given the changes now required for a full 25-percent submission for the project.

Sullivan made clear the town would proceed with FST and laid out the next steps in the process -- a public hearing and the fact that Mass. Highway must approve the 25-percent play or the project will not proceed. The issues raised in the March memo are expected to take three months to fix.

Wiener said in an e-mail May 10: "The only required public hearing is done by MassDOT Highway Division after the 25% design submission is accepted by them. We haven't laid out a process between now and the next submission to Highway."  

At the May 6 meeting, Romano said: "So many things were missed. We said to slow [the process] down, and nobody listened to us. ... FST did a lousy job."

Sullivan agreed that "some of these things weren't done," but he allowed that "another report will address all of these issues."

One issue involves the proposed bike lines on each side of the avenue. EACCC members said such lanes work better in Europe because they are flush against the curb.

Stephen Hall, owner of Hair Systems Salon, at 4 Lake St., pointed out that the current plan has lanes beside parking spots, putting cyclists in conflict with motorists.

Donna Janis, an EACCC member, said the milelong stretch has 17 single-lane driveways, and cars must back out from them across bike lanes. 

"If a community doesn't want it, Mass. Highway will walk away," said EACCC member Joe Connors, a longtime town resident.

The Mass. Ave. Advisory Committee, chaired by Wiener, plans to meet to discuss these issues at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 10, at the Senior Center. Selectman Jack Hurd, a member of that subcommittee, did not attend the Thursday Town Hall meeting. "Since the size and scope of the meeting has apparently changed, I believe in fairness," Hurd wrote in an e-mail May 6, "the entire advisory committee should participate. That will happen on Monday night."

Baron concluded the May 6 meeting: "We're not a group of people who hate bikes." Berger added: "Some of us ride bikes."

Related links to Mass. Ave. project:

April 9: More data sought for Mass. Ave. project plans

April 17: Mass. Ave. Corridor memo calls for 'extensive revisions'

Advocate, Aug. 6, 2009 | YourArlington, August meeting | Adam Auster's blog | E. Arlington Concerned Citizens (Part 2) | Livable Streets Coalition | Town project information

This story was first published Sunday, May 9, 2010, and updated once the next day.