This morning (Thurs 9/28), I attended a meeting sponsored by The West Waltham Chamber of Commerce and The 128 Business Council. The meeting was to update everyone on the Winter Street Bridge Project. As you all know by now this is Waltham’s version of the big dig. As you drive through the project the only sound you hear is the sucking of you tax dollars into a bottomless abyss. Construction trucks are a rare sight at the location.
A spokesman for Mass Highway told us that this is a three year project that is sixteen to eighteen percent finished. You do the math, and you’ll see why people think we need MCAS testing.
Mayor McCarthy, several members of the city council as well as members of the business community made comments and asked some important questions regarding this major project that greatly affects the city. Leaving the meeting, my first thought reconfirmed my belief that a change in the governor’s office is necessary. The lack of oversight and management on this project is appalling.
What stuck in my head as I was driving home, though, was not the mess the state has made of this project, but things that are the domain of the city. Two new companies are relocating to the area. One has 800 employees, the other 350. In addition, the recently passed overlay district is here also which will add many more cars.
The major part of this project is to widen the bridge from 4 to 7 lanes. This project does nothing to get the traffic moving on 128/95, the major cause of gridlock. It does nothing to improve the traffic flow on Totten Pond Rd and Lexington Streets. In fact, it does nothing to move traffic west on Winter St through Weston to Trapelo Rd and on to Route 2 which is really the only way to alleviate some of the congestion. To me, it seems the only thing this plan does, is create a place for all the new cars we are bringing into the area to wait in the traffic.
After all is said and done, the one question that I have is, when will we stop piecemeal development and come up with a Zoning Master Plan?