Paul Feely's City Hall: At meeting, residents find President Road roadblock

Post date: Oct 24, 2016 2:26:09 PM

October 15. 2016 11:11PM

Manchester's President Road residents vent their frustrationwith Walmart traffic plan

IT WAS STANDING room only at City Hall last week as Manchester aldermen weighed traffic plans for troubled President Road.

Ward 9 residents came to voice their opinion at the special session of the Aldermanic Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic - all but one never got the chance.

The session had been advertised - at least verbally by Committee Chair Tom Katsiantonis of Ward 8 - as a special session for residents to address a new plan submitted by Ward 9 Alderman Barbara Shaw. The proposal, which calls for making President Road a one-way street headed west instead of installing a new gate, was introduced two weeks ago as a non-agenda item at a committee meeting. Katsiantonis asked that a special meeting be held to allow people time to review the plan and give their impressions.

Dozens of residents attended Tuesday's special session, filling the chambers and spilling over into the upper level seating area, expecting to have their say.

One problem - the posted meeting agenda included no mention of public comment, and none of the residents, save one woman who asked a brief question, was allowed to address the committee.

Katsiantonis was unable to attend the meeting, and Ward 3 Alderman and board chair Pat Long was voted in to serve as chair for the special meeting. He said he believed board members had received an abundance of input from residents over the last few months regarding traffic along President Road and ways to address it.

"For several months the Board of Mayor and Aldermen have been receiving emails and phone calls from residents in reference to the proposals before the committee," said Long. "These communications have articulated the pros and cons of all proposals. There was a woman who requested to speak, and I asked if she had new information that would help in the committee's discussion. She said yes, but her statement was information the committee was already considering. I'm of the opinion that the committee had a wealth of information as to the public's view, and there was no new information that would be brought forward."

Those in attendance were upset that they made an effort to attend the meeting and were not allowed to speak.

"The public was completely shut out of the conversation regardless of the fact that many citizens left work early and/or altered plans to be sure to get to the meeting on time," said state Rep. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, a Ward 9 resident.

"I was made aware after the meeting that people were told they would be able to speak. I wasn't aware of that prior to or during the meeting," said Long. "The meeting was noticed as a 'Special Meeting Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic.' If the intent was to take public comment, it should have been noticed as such."

Reached last week while on a trip to Greece, Katsiantonis confirmed it was his belief residents would be given an opportunity to speak.

"That was my understanding," said Katsiantonis. "I'm not sure what happened."

Katsiantonis said he also emailed committee members prior to the meeting, recommending the issue be tabled for another two weeks before a vote was taken.

President Road residents have spoken out regularly since April about the high volume of traffic through their neighborhood after it became the favored route to the new Walmart on Gold Street.

Sullivan was one of many who wanted to weigh in on the plan.

"This has affected every street on this side of the city, not just President Road," said Sullivan, a South Beech Street resident. "Many of us use President Road to get our children to school at both Highland Goffe's Falls and The Founders Academy. We use that road to cut through to the other neighborhood that leads to Goffs Falls Road. President has the least number of houses and the widest road among the side streets. Altering the traffic on President Road will increase traffic in the more narrow side streets and divert more traffic onto Brown Avenue, which is already a traffic nightmare, thanks to the new light at the corner of South Beech and Brown Avenue."

Committee members ultimately voted to recommend the full board approve making President Road one-way headed west. The vote was 3-1, with Aldermen Long, Bill Barry and Normand Gamache in favor, and Alderman At Large Dan O'Neil opposed. The vote came after O'Neil made a motion to recommend gating President Road. That motion failed on a 2-2 vote, with O'Neil and Gamache in favor, and Barry and Long opposed.

The exact wording of the recommendation is to make President Road one-way westbound, from South Beech Street to Greenwood Street; Frontage Road one-way westbound from Greenwood Street to a point 140 feet east; and Mack Avenue one-way northbound from Frontage Road to Sewall Street.

The full board is scheduled to vote on the recommendation when it meets Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall. Members of the public are invited to address the board during a special Public Participation Meeting at 7 p.m.