WESTFIELD–During last week’s public health and safety committee meeting, city engineer Mark Cressotti suggested that the city embrace the Complete Streets Initiative, to the ire of Councilor At Large Dan Allie.
Cressotti urged the councilors to consider attempting the initiative. The purpose of the Complete Streets Initiative, according to the MassDOT website, is “to adopt policies and practices that provide safe and accessible options for all travel modes – walking, biking, transit and vehicles – for people of all ages and abilities.” If a municipality qualifies for the program, then they are eligible to receive funding and technical assistance.
Mark Cressotti
“This has validity for a vital community,” Cressotti said about the initiative. “It gains $400,000 for the city annually.”
Indeed. According to the MassDOT website, the program will provide municipalities with “up to $50,000 in technical assistance and up to $400,000 in construction funding,” as long as the municipality falls into three guidelines (again, from MassDOT):
- Attendance of a municipal employee at a Complete Streets training
- Passage of a Complete Streets Policy that scores 80 or above out of a possible 100 points (Tier 1)
- Development of a Complete Streets Prioritization Plan (Tier 2)
But Allie spoke harshly against the suggestion, saying that after the city installed similar measures it hurt the city more than it helped.
“We went through it with the business improvement district and it didn’t help businesses at all,” Allie said. “We are taxing people out of their homes. Where we need two flower pots we have seven.” Allie was referring to the various accoutrements on the sidewalks currently, and also included the obelisks on sidewalks at one point.
Dan Allie
Allie continued, suggesting that if the city wants to build sidewalks and fix roads then they should.
“We do not need an agenda to do it,” Allie said.
Cressotti countered, saying that the city is already following most of the Complete Streets requirements, so implementing an ordinance based on it would not be a significant change.
“If you want a vibrant downtown and you want people out of their cars, you want to slow them down and look around,” Cressotti said.
In the end no legislation was created, but the heated discussion may prompt the city to look into more state programs to help alleviate the construction woes that the people and the city are currently facing.
