By Maureen Sullivan

A room full of residents spoke out on proposals to the Main Street Improvement Project during a public forum April 16 at the Community-Senior Center. 

Their concerns ranged from having some of the bike lanes flush with the sidewalks to parking and bump outs, which are generally use to slow traffic.

“We have real problems on Main Street,” said one resident, who is a cyclist. “How do bike lanes improve congestion?” He added that to pursue bike lanes for Main Street would be “a fool’s errand.”

Another resident said the design was “beautiful,” but agreed that the proposed bike lanes would make the road narrower.

Members of the project team emphasized the need for the project itself, as well as the importance of public input.

“This is a challenging project,” said Morgan Griffiths, the town’s transportation and economic development planner. “Main Street is the heart of Natick.”

The project, which would stretch from Cottage Street to Middlesex Avenue, would address several issues identified by the town’s Complete Streets policy and other surveys. This would include updated signal timing, streetscape upgrades and improvements to the pavement and sidewalks.

“Main Street is declining in quality,” said Griffiths. “There are safety concerns.”

As part of the improvements, Court Street would be turned one-way, from Washington Street to Main Street.

A chief goal is to use state and federal funds to pay for the project, with a cost estimate of $11 million, once it’s finalized and ready to go. And that is where the forum began buzzing.

The town hopes to use funds from the Transportation Improvement Project (TIP) or MassWorks. “TIP would be the most fiscally responsible,” said Griffiths, because the program could pick up the entire $11 million tab. 

However, there’s a catch: The program requires dedicated bike lanes. The MassWorks grant would be for a maximum of $5 million, but has no requirements on bike lanes.

The project team also announced the results of a FlashVote conducted in early April. The main takeaways of the input received is that parking is perceived as “hard to find,” and there’s no strong consensus for or against bike lanes. Preferences included having protected lanes; bike racks and parking; and placing bike lanes on nearby streets.

Once the forum entered the question-and-answer period, residents keyed in on the proposed bike lanes, part of which would be be flush with the sidewalks, as well as the parking situation.

Diane Young, a resident and Town Meeting member, asked how emergency vehicles, including fire engines, would be able to negotiate Main Street with the new design patterns, and why there’s such a rush to get these plans before the Select Board.

Feedback from the public forum, as well as the FlashVote and other online survey forms, will be compiled and brought before the Select Board on May 13. At this meeting, the board is expected to decide whether to bring the hybrid plan to the design phase.

Project team members and town officials emphasized that nothing has been finalized about the project, and changes will continue to be made.

The project’s webpage may be found at www.natickma.gov/main-st-study

Ideas or concerns about the project can be emailed to [email protected].