It may have taken 11 years, immeasurable meeting hours, and the patience of Job at times, but at long last the Mattapoisett village streets roadway reconstruction project is moving into 75-percent design. Barring unknown and unknowable roadblocks (pun intended), several years from now Mattapoisett’s village center will have gone through a metamorphosis.
On January 28, the Select Board, in the presence of community members who did not object, voted to accept the 25-percent design. Now the project design can move forward with nearly all sticking points dispensed with.
Several years into the design process, the Select Board faced a public whose concerns centered around the loss of trees. It seemed at times that the more the community talked about the project pros and cons the further away from a consensus they drifted. But on this night, after an engineering presentation that spelled out how and why certain decisions had been made, the board members accepted the plan as presented with only small deviations.
VHB gave project updates that included confirmation that the Main Street section will begin at Tobey Lane, gas main to be replaced by Eversource, water main to be part of the TIP project with MassDOT providing installation, and the town to fund materials.
It was further decided that underground utilities were not feasible, raised traffic calming features would not be installed and that the creation of one-way traffic flow would not be part of the plan. Police Chief Jason King gave a presentation that highlighted the dangers inherent in one-way traffic flow saying he was opposed.
What had been a real hot button topic, the removal of trees, 31 at last count, met with little to no resistance on this night. Tree Committee Chairman Sandy Hering who has objected to the loss of trees said at the end of the public comment portion of the meeting that she was “disappointed with the plan.” She said the plan didn’t increase parking or address how to control traffic flow. But more significantly she said, “…people wanted to keep the look of the village.” She also stated that pruning of trees that will be spared from being removed needed to be pruned now.
Hering also asked that the engineers look at permeable soils to help ensure the health and viability of new plantings. She received assurance that would be the case.
Sidewalks were a main topic as the meeting went on. According to the report the design now shows no sidewalk on the west side of Main Street between Route 6 and Depot Street while adding sidewalk on the south side between Pearl and Cannon, Mechanic and North Street. The complete report will available on the town’s website.
The now $20,000,000 Transportation Improvement Project (aka TIP) is currently on the 2028 TIP list which runs from October 2027 to September 2028. A public hearing will be held in the spring of 2025.
Mattapoisett Select Board
By Marilou Newell