From: Thatcher W. Kezer
Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 5:04 PM
To: Andrew Cummings <andrew.cummings@timrenzi.net>; Meghan Todd <meghanltodd@gmail.com>; sgoldsteinma <sgoldsteinma@gmail.com>; Tyler Terrasi <t_terrasi@yahoo.com>; Rose Quinn <rquinn@mwcil.org>; Ricky Finley <raf7162@verizon.net>; fdcsusie (null) <fdcsusie@aol.com>
Cc: Mark E. Dempsey; Kelly L. McFalls; William R. Sedewitz
Subject: School Street Sidewalk Project Update
Commission Members,
At last Wednesday’s Disability Commission meeting I was asked questions about the status of the School Street sidewalk project. Below is the response Blake Lukis provided last week on his last days as DPW Director for Framingham.
In summary, there were no curb cuts in the work zone area before the project started. DPW received a Shared Streets grant that required completion of the sidewalks this season while the street paving is scheduled for next construction season. In the interim, DPW has provided a safe, temporary path for accessibility where none existed until the project can be completed. Once the paving is complete, all the permanent infrastructure will be ADA compliant. The entire project has the funding necessary to be completed. See attached photo of one of the curb cuts with temporary patching as an example.
Please let me know if you have any other questions on the project.
Thatcher
Thatcher W. Kezer III
Chief Operating Officer
City of Framingham
150Concord Street
Framingham MA 01702
508.532.5400
tkezer@framinghamma.gov
Blake’s response:
Prior to June 2021, the section of School Street between Hamilton Street and Old Connecticut Path contained 7 crosswalks which had no curb cuts at all. These crosswalks were located at the intersections of Colby Ave., Fenwood St., Meadow St., Cottage St., North St., and two in the vicinity of St. George Church.
To help correct this lack of accessibility, the City applied for a Shared Street grant to help fund the replacement of the sidewalks and installation of appropriate curb cuts at all crosswalks. The City was successful in obtaining a $200,000 grant to perform this work, however, the timeframe to use the grant funding was short and the work had to be completed this construction season. Unfortunately, we were not able to rearrange the paving schedule to pull the paving portion of this project into the current construction season, leaving it as an outstanding portion of the project until the 2022 construction season. I will note, however, that the paving portion of the project is fully funded through the annual roadway program and no additional approval or appropriations are necessary. This is strictly a timing issue.
Ideally, we would have performed the sidewalk work within the same season as the paving to ensure a complete project within the same construction season. Unfortunately to take advantage of the grant funding we chose to split the project up over two seasons. To bridge the gap in this interim period between sidewalk installation and paving, we have installed temporary paving by all of the new curb cuts and will maintain accessibility until we can get the paving complete.
The guidelines for safe vehicle and pedestrian travel through work zones is set forth in the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administrations Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways. Chapter 6D of this manual states that “If the previous pedestrian facility was accessible to pedestrians with disabilities, the footpath provided during temporary traffic control should also be accessible.” Since the pedestrian facility (sidewalks in this case) previously did not meet compliance due to the lack of curb cuts, then the temporary sidewalks also do not. That said, we have done our best to provide an interim solution which provides accessibility.
One Framingham – Focused on the Future
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