Moran Square to get Facelift
Pedestrian improvements planned for the eastern end of Fitchburg Main Street
Main Street in Fitchburg has for several decades been an inhospitable gutter for cars. Four lanes of state highway ran from Moran Square in the East to the Water St. Bridge in the West, before splitting into a system of one-way roads that once directed Eastbound traffic onto Boulder Drive.
Though a series of recent improvements have restored two-way traffic1 and brought some foot traffic back to the city center, the Eastern end of Main St. has remained a pedestrian nightmare. The four-lane road forms a massive rift that separates the Intermodal station from business on the other side. Old folks can be seen standing on street corners, waiting minutes for a gap in traffic. Anyone passing through Moran Square at night does so at great risk of bodily harm on the dimly-lit and narrow sidewalks.
This may change very soon.
Yesterday I had the chance to attend a public meeting on a street redevelopment plan for Moran Square. The city had contracted the civil engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill to design the layout, and they were presenting their initial plans to the public. State money had been put up to improve the square, which was in need of traffic safety and drainage improvements.2
Engineers identified three goals for the project: “Modernization, safety, and economic development.” They seek to remedy the “confusing” traffic layout, improve signals, and modernize the underground utility lines. As the district is repaved, it would feature a layout that emphasized safety “for all users,” including pedestrians and cyclists. This new configuration is a typical road diet that eliminates some lanes of traffic to reduce speeds and create “complete streets” — thoroughfares that are welcome to foot and cycle traffic.
The new plan called for re-configuring the complex intersection into a simple ‘T’ shape, with Spanish-American War statue pushed to the East to eliminate the traffic island. Myrtle Avenue was to be sepated from the intersection with motorists able to take right turns in and out, opening the end of the street to two-way traffic. This would require the relocation of the sizeable statue and open up a large public plaza on Lunenburg Street.
“Pedestrian safety is a major goal of the project,” said one of yesterday’s presenters. The sidewalks would also be expanded into multi-use paths big enough to accomodate casual cyclists and local perambulators. Main street would see reconfigured cross-walks with a raised crossing near the Intermodal station. Though the plan did not include any pedestrian refuges or medians, they may install physical barriers to calm traffic, particularly near Myrtle Avenue. Designers excitedly showed off lighting improvements and code-compliant accessibility ramps to make the district safer.
The new square looks good in renders, with a vibrant crowds walking and relaxing in a green public space. However there’s no guarantee that people will want to spend their time beside a busy intersection. I asked an engineer if they had considered ‘quiet pavement’ — asphalt that reduces the sound of cars — and he said that they would “look into it” but were constrained by the budget. “In a perfect world” even more money and space could be dedicated to pedestrian life, but any improvement would ultimately have to conform to practical concerns about efficiently and safely moving traffic.
Even these marginal improvements, however, are sorely needed. This stretch of Main St. currently has inadequate lighting and no few crosswalks. Sidewalks are cracked and treacherously thin, especially near the old Fitchburg Plumbing Supply building. The Moran Square Improvement Plan will remedy these issues with more pedestrian space and new streetlamps. The street with its cracks and potholes will be resurfaced, as is already happening in other parts of the city. Trees will be planted, providing needed shade in the heat of summer. Transit planners at the meeting even discussed the possibility of a flag stop for busses.
I’m not sold on the idea that these improvements will attract people to “enjoy the Downtown experience”, as one presenter put it. But as a local I will be happy to get where I am going in one piece.