From the Daily Hampshire Gazette

Hadley board presses traffic, shuttle issues

08/17/2005

By SCOTT MERZBACH Staff Writer

HADLEY - The town Planning Board is insisting on an inter-mall shuttle as it negotiates with Wal-Mart and Lowe's on building project details.

With more than 75 residents and observers gathered for hearings Tuesday in the Hadley Senior Community Center, the board strongly made its case for a shuttle bus that Hampshire Mall, Mountain Farms Mall, the soon-to-be-built Hadley Corner shopping center and Lowe's would operate jointly.

"We're telling Pyramid (Corp.) it must participate in the shuttle," said Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer. Pyramid operates the Hampshire Mall.

Steve Savaria, a traffic engineer for Fuss & O'Neill of West Springfield who is working for the developers, said that it is a priority to alleviate the increased traffic with mass transportation.

"We are committed to a transit service of some kind," Savaria said.

The site plan hearings on the Wal-Mart and Lowe's projects on Route 9 are expected to take several meetings before any decisions are rendered, but board members were unified on the need for the shuttle bus.

Wal-Mart

The 212,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter is part of a larger 309,172-square-foot expansion of the Hampshire Mall that includes a 97,000-square-foot space for an unidentified tenant and expansion of the Cinemark theaters.

Mark Darnold, a consultant for Berkshire Design Company of Northampton, explained that the project will comply with all zoning requirements for green space, setbacks, parking and drainage.

Highlights of the project, Darnold said, are extending Westgate Center Drive past the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service building so that it will become the main entrance to the Wal-Mart store and creating a direct connection to the Norwottuck Rail Trail, including a pavilion with bicycle racks for cyclists.

Savaria said Wal-Mart is expected to increase traffic between 5 and 12 percent at the 20 intersections in Hadley and Amherst that were studied.

The biggest change that will need to be made is at Westgate Center Drive, Savaria said, where the entrance will be widened to five lanes to accommodate turning lanes both into and out of the road. The Route 116 bypass will also have to be adjusted by adding a dedicated turn lane.

Another alteration being proposed is to add a traffic signal on South Maple Street at the southerly entrances and exits to the Hampshire and Mountain Farms malls, which Savaria said would also create a signalized pedestrian crossing.

The northerly South Maple Street entrance would be reconfigured to eliminate left-hand turns, though Planning Board members suggested that with the new entrance on Westgate Center Drive, this entrance be removed entirely.

The building itself will have a brick facade, with mullioned dormer windows on the roof line. Maksimoski said he was pleased with the "attractive-looking building."

Planning Board member Joseph Zgrodnik said green space should be better spread out on the site.

"I would like to see it incorporated more into the parking area and overall mall," Zgrodnik said.

Zgrodnik also pushed for having Wal-Mart help the community's farmers.

"We'd like to see a commitment to local farmers and local produce," Zgrodnik said.

Lowe's

The Lowe's plan is for a 140,000-square-foot building that would be built adjacent to the Long Hollow Bison farm. It features one primary entrance, with a traffic signal and dedicated left-turn lanes for both Lowe's and its neighbor across the street, the Hadley Garden Center. This would mean widening the road from two to four lanes at that point.

Darnold, who also made the presentation for Lowe's, said a landscape berm would be built on the western side of the building to provide a buffer from homes on Spruce Hill Road.

Savaria said the Lowe's would generate an additional 600 vehicle trips during the peak periods of business, usually midday Saturday, and about 300 more vehicles per hour during the weekday peak hours.

With 100 to 150 additional vehicles expected on East Street on Saturdays, Savaria said he is proposing that East Street add a turning lane next to the Easthampton Savings Bank branch. But members of the Planning Board said East Street, which is part of a residential neighborhood, should not be widened.

The board also was critical of a dedicated right-turn in, right-turn out for Lowe's.

"They just don't work on Route 9," Maksimoski said.

Planning Board member Lisa Sanderson said it was important that Lowe's provide a connection to the rail trail, especially since a building to go up in front of the store is likely to be a restaurant or bank.

The Wal-Mart hearing continues Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m., in the Hopkins Academy cafeteria. The Lowe's hearing continues Sept. 20, at the same time and place.