Pomeroy Village work OK'd by town panel

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on November 06, 2009

A Department of Public Works design aimed at making Pomeroy Village, the bustling village center in South Amherst, more pedestrian friendly can proceed once funding is in place.

At its Oct. 20 meeting, the Design Review Board approved the proposed work at the intersection of West Street and Pomeroy Lane, after regularly examining plans from the town engineer, conducting public hearings and discussing the project for the past 18 months.

Town Manager Larry Shaffer said the idea is to promote the village center concept and add public infrastructure to knit the area together in a more logical way.

Improvements are slated to include turning lanes in the northbound and southbound lanes of West Street, traffic-calming medians designed to slow vehicles and alert motorists that they are entering a thickly settled area, as well as benches, streetlights, bus stops, crosswalks and an adjacent multi-use path.

Currently, the village center features several retail businesses and restaurants in strip developments, along with office buildings and nearby condominiums. But because it was developed in an ad hoc manner over a period of years, Shaffer said the village center needs this municipal assistance to have more sustainable development that promotes density and walkability.

The DRB carefully considered the various components of the work, such as making sure the streetlights are downcast and that the crosswalks will have brick edging, just as they do downtown.

"We welcome their input because they have a great sense of aesthetic and functionality," Shaffer said.

Shaffer said with the design created by the DPW, managed by the Planning Department and now approved by the DRB, it should give the Select Board a high level of comfort that the project will move forward.

"We have all the approvals on design so we can now think of ways to fund it and go after grants," Shaffer said.

There was also some urgency to get these plans in place because of the extensive amount of work that is already being planned for the Route 116 corridor, which will start this fall with the paving of a 2.5-mile stretch of South Pleasant and West streets using $2.3 million in federal stimulus money.

Next year, the long-awaited project to reconstruct Atkins Corner will begin with the infusion of $2.4 million in stimulus money released by Gov. Deval Patrick.

"We have been treated kindly by the governor," Shaffer said.

Though it was not a priority to resurface Route 116, Shaffer said having fresh pavement on the road will reduce upkeep expenses and free town resources that can be used to upgrade other roads.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.