Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
Kingston selectmen have approved a comprehensive road improvement plan aimed at enhancing safety and connectivity throughout the town.
The plan, presented by Environmental Partners at the July 30th Board of Selectmen meeting, prioritizes projects on both town and state-owned roads. It includes upgrades to Main Street, intersection redesigns, and new pedestrian facilities.
Jim Fitzgerald, Principal at Environmental Partners, explained the project’s goals: “We want to put the town in a good position to solicit those other alternative funding sources to supplement the Chapter 90 [state funding].”
The top-rated project for town-owned roads is along Main Street, focusing on improving pedestrian safety. The plan proposes installing improved crosswalks at regular intervals, ensuring ADA accessibility, and potentially adding rectangular rapid flashing beacons at key intersections.
Other high-priority projects include redesigning the intersection of Pembroke Street at Lake Street and Station Street near the high school, and adding a shared-use path on Lake Street.
For state-owned roads, the plan prioritizes improvements to the intersection of Main Street, Summer Street, and Linden Street. This location saw 44 crashes over a five-year period, including eight with injuries and one fatality.
Margot Schoenfelder, Senior Project Manager at Environmental Partners, emphasized the importance of the prioritization methodology: “We find creating a set of criteria that is made public and having it be quantitative is really important for justifying how the town’s prioritizing projects.”
Paul Basler, Kingston’s Streets, Trees, and Parks Superintendent, stressed the need for road maintenance funding. “We need money in this town to maintain the current roads we have,” Basler said. “We got $415,000 from Chapter 90 this year. That Chapter 90 money is earmarked for Ring Road, Prospect Street, and Thomas Street. Those three jobs alone are worth almost $2 million.”
Town Planner Valerie Massard noted that the next steps involve seeking funding opportunities. “We’re not gonna be able to predict where we’re gonna start. We’re gonna go with opportunity meets money,” she said.
The Selectmen unanimously accepted the state and local road improvement priorities report. The full report is available on the town’s website.