MAYNARD CENTER REVITALIZATION
Maynard, Massachusetts
When Digital Electronics Corporation moved its facilities out of Maynard Center, it created a major challenge for the small businesses in the area that depended on them for clientele. Business leaders, working through the Chamber of Commerce, convinced the Town to sponsor a study aimed at finding ways to replace the lost business. The Town engaged C&C Consulting Engineers and The Cecil Group, planners to prepare a study of the downtown area. Community Investment Associates, a contract town planning organization, managed the study.
C&C staff was assigned to conduct a comprehensive infrastructure evaluation, a traffic circulation study and a parking sufficiency study. An in-depth evaluation was made of all surface public infrastructure components, including pavement, curbing, sidewalks, streetscape, trees and benches, lighting, signs, and traffic signals. The traffic component involved collecting peak hour turning movement counts and conducting a one-way vs. two-way traffic capacity evaluation. Finally, a parking inventory and peak parking accumulation survey was completed and the sufficiency of parking was evaluated. Recommendations were made that were focused on improving safety and convenience and promoting increased business interest within the area. The recommendations included the upgrading of signals and signs, replacement of streetlights, and the reorganization of parking to better comply with ADA regulations.
Our traffic circulation study concluded that reversion of traffic to a two-way pattern was undesirable because of the lack of turning areas at several of the intersections; however, we also identified several components of the infrastructure that warranted upgrading. One of the recommendations involved creating a mid-block pedestrian neck-down to control traffic speeds and reduce the exposure of pedestrians to accidents. We also recommended improvements to the pedestrian signals at various locations.
This study was eventually responsible in part for attracting a new owner to the former Digital mill buildings, and their subsequent redevelopment has been found to be very successful.
