Buzzards Bay Village

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BUZZARDS BAY VILLAGE

COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN

Prepared for the

BUZZARDS BAY VITALIZATION ASSOCIATION BOURNE, MASSACHUSETTS

JUNE 2007

Wesley Ewell, Planning Consultant 9 Daniel Webster Road Pocasset, Massachusetts 02559

In Association With

Maguire Group Inc. Architects/Engineers/Planners 225 Chapman Street Providence, RI 02905

BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

CONTENTS

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...…... 4 Historic Perspective…………………………………………………………………….… 6 Land use Influences………………………………………………………………………..9 Regional Trends…..…………………………………………………...... 10 Member Survey………………………………………………………………………….. 12 Transportation Goal and Policies………………………………………………………... 13 A Vision of Buzzards Bay in 2027……………………………………………………… 14 Aerial Photograph of Buzzards Bay…………………………………………………….. 16 Highway Access…………………………………………………………………………. 17 Main Street………………………………………………………………………………. 18 Main Street By-pass……………………………………………………………………... 20 Memorial Circle…………………………………………………………………………. 24 Belmont Circle…………………………………………………………………………... 26 Inter-city Bus Service...………………………………………………………….……… 28 Local Bus and Taxi Service……………………………………………………………... 30 Commuter Rail Service………………………………………………………………….. 31 Non-commuter Railroad Service……………………………………………….……….. 34 Ferry Service…………………………………………………………...... ……………… 37 Pleasure Boat Access…………………………………………………………...……….. 39 Pedestrian and Bicycle Access…………………………………….…………………….. 41 Parking…………………………………………………………………………………... 44 Cohasset Narrows Bridge…………………………………………….....………………. 46 Summary Plan ……………………………………………………………..…………… 47 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….… 49 Member Survey……………………………………………………………..……… 50 Maguire Traffic Analysis………………………………………………....………… 53 Traffic Counts………………………………………………………………………. 67

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INTRODUCTION

Purpose of this study The Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association asked how the village’s roads and other transportation systems affect its ability to remain a vibrant downtown for the Town of Bourne. The Association wants to optimize access to and within the Village of Buzzards Bay from all points in the town and region, and by all means of transportation, with the intent of making the village a more accessible destination both for town residents and for visitors. This study looks at travel to and from areas outside the region, within the region, and between the villages of Bourne. Transportation modes studied include private and commercial vehicles, buses, taxis, commuter rail and non-commuter railroad service, rail freight, ferry boats, pleasure boats, airport access, bicycles, pedestrians and any other modes of travel that affect the village.

This study considers road circulation patterns, short-term and overnight public parking, traffic controls, public transit, pedestrian circulation and the potential effects on the village of planned actions by others, such as reconstruction of the Cohasset Narrows Bridge. The purpose of this study is to identify all transportation-related issues facing the village, to analyze each of those issues, and to develop a plan of actions that might be taken by village leaders and others to address those issues. This plan considers not only actions that can be taken soon, but also looks forward to envision the long-range potential for growth and renewal throughout Buzzards Bay Village.

Coordination with other plans This Comprehensive Transportation Plan is one of several studies currently underway that will be combined into an overall plan to transform Buzzards Bay Village into a vibrant town center and economic engine for the Town of Bourne. The other studies are being prepared by several consultants under separate contracts with the Bourne Financial Development Corporation, a non-profit agency charged with improving the economic health of the town. They include a study of the market potential for expanded commercial development; an analysis of the impact of potential development on the town’s tax base and expenses; a plan to solve Bourne’s wastewater disposal issues, with particular em- phasis on the Village of Buzzards Bay; and a visioning study that will look at various ways the village might be redeveloped to take advantage of its unique features.

This plan builds upon Bourne’s recently adopted Local Comprehensive Plan, which strongly advocates revitalizing Buzzards Bay Village into not just a center of local government, but a destination for marine education, research and entertainment. It includes selected recommendations from earlier plans prepared by Phillip Herr and Associates, The Cecil Group of Boston and a team of graduate students from the University of Penn- sylvania School of Design Department of City and Regional Planning. It also draws on the many imaginative ideas developed by the Bridge Park Design Competition in 2005.

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Assumptions made in developing this plan This transportation plan is based on certain assumptions regarding land use, development and environmental protection. It assumes that major infrastructure components such as the canal, the railroad, the maritime academy, major highways and the bridges will not change over the next 20 years. It also assumes that Buzzards Bay can be developed more aggressively and with different types of buildings and uses than could be done in other village centers in Bourne or elsewhere on Cape Cod. It assumes that future development will be denser than it has been in other parts of the town, and that there will be far more intermixing of residential and commercial uses.

It does not anticipate that Buzzards Bay will see the kind of high-rise residential structures that have been built on the waterfronts of Boca Raton and Toronto, but does recog- nize that the village could see one or two mid-rise towers built to take advantage of the spectacular views across the bay. It assumes that the Town will solve the wastewater disposal challenges that now limit development in the village. It further assumes that the village does not want the kind of roadside development of “big-box” stores and fast-food restaurants that is found in Wareham and Plymouth.

Most importantly, this plan assumes that there is widespread consensus within the village and the town to direct new growth into Buzzards Bay while limiting suburban sprawl in other areas. The policies and actions suggested here are designed to make that happen.

How to use this plan There are several ways to use this plan for the benefit of Buzzards Bay Village. First, after reading through the plan, imagine how the village’s transportation system would look and work if all the suggestions in this plan were to be put into action. Second, use the goals and policies outlined in this plan to test each new development proposal that is presented by landowners and developers. Ask whether the proposals advance the plan or detract from it. And finally, work to make the action items happen.

Most of the action items suggested in this plan can be done independently of any other action item. In other words, they need not be done in any particular order. Some of the actions can be done immediately; others will take years of effort. Similarly, some of the action items will be very expensive, while others can be done at relatively modest cost. Fortunately, the most expensive items involve alterations of state or federal highways, the canal or railroad operations, which would be funded entirely by non-local sources.

It is important that some actions be taken as soon as possible to launch this plan and keep it in the forefront of future efforts to vitalize Buzzards Bay. Start with the least expensive and easiest items. At the same time, begin moving toward implementing some of the more expensive or time-consuming items. Be prepared to move quickly on some of these items as state and federal funding becomes available. Try to link related action items to new development, either as mitigation for the impacts of the development or as joint public/private ventures between the Village Association or town and the developers.

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HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE

An early port Buzzards Bay has only been Bourne’s town government center since 1884, but the village has been a transportation hub for nearly four hundred years. First as a maritime port, then as a railroad hub and, most recently, as the node where three major highways come together. A brief look at the village’s history may indicate the direction that it should take to improve its transportation systems today.

The village was one of this country’s first port destinations for freight shipments from Europe. As early as 1623, Dutch traders would land at the head of the Monument River, near the location of the current town hall, to deliver supplies to the English settlers of Plymouth Colony. By 1626 a trading post had been built at this location that became a regular stop for ships making their way between Europe and New Amsterdam. Within a few years, colonists were also exporting goods, mostly timber and grain.

The canal Buzzards Bay continued to be a minor port for more than 300 years, although its shallow water depths prevented it from reaching the size and level of activity of New Bedford or Boston. Construction of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914 gave the port a needed boost at a time when it might otherwise have faded into obscurity. The canal effectively overcame the water depth problem, and placed the Village directly on the coastal shipping route between Boston and ports to the south.

Although the canal was promoted and built to support industrial development in the area, it served instead to connect more industrialized areas to the north and south, effectively bypassing Buzzards Bay – an ironic foreshadowing of events to come later. Not only did the Canal not inspire new development, but it wiped out much of the Keith Car Works in Sagamore, which was the biggest industry in the area.

This mid-19th century map from Bourne’s historic archives does not have a date on it. It had to have been made after 1853, however, when the railroad was extended to Sandwich center, and before 1884 when Bourne split from Sandwich and the trolley line was built to Monument Beach. Note that Buzzards Bay was little more than a crossroads and a railroad station at that time.

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The railroad years By the time the canal was built, maritime shipping through Buzzards Bay had largely given way to the railroad, which arrived in the mid-nineteenth century. For nearly 100 years, Buzzards Bay was known more for its rail connections than its ocean shipping. Trains from Boston, New York and points west converged on the village for sorting and transshipment to Hyannis, Chatham and Provincetown, and to Woods Hole, where freight and passengers were moved to ferries connecting to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

Passenger trains contributed to Buzzards Bay’s development as a summer resort area. The “Dude Train” was a privately chartered express commuter service that ran from 1884 until 1916. It allowed wealthy businessmen from Boston to live in the area during the summer months while still working in the city. The result was construction of quite a few mansions, known then as “cottages,” in and around the village during that period. General Charles Taylor, builder of Fenway Park and long-time publisher of The Boston Globe, had two mansions on the peninsula that is still known as Taylor’s Point.

Despite its strategic location and transportation connections, Buzzards Bay did not become the town center until the canal was built. When Bourne split off from Sandwich in 1884 a new town center was established at the head of the Monument River. The new town center was cut in half by construction of the canal only 30 years later, however, and Buzzards Bay then become Bourne’s downtown. When the canal was widened in the early 1930s, a new vertical lift bridge was constructed to carry trains to and from the rest of Cape Cod. The next phase of Buzzards Bay’s history began soon after, with the opening of Camp Edwards army base in 1938.

The war years For the next decade, Bourne became a military town, with Camp Edwards play- ing a major role in the war effort as a training center, embarkation point and prisoner of war camp. Buzzards Bay saw a huge increase in railroad activity, as well as maritime shipping through the State Pier. The commercial blocks around the railroad station became a playground for soldiers on liberty, with a hotel, bars and pool halls. A large USO club and gymnasium was built for the entertainment of the troops.

When the war ended, the army’s presence subsided, but was replaced by Otis Air Force Base. Buzzards Bay settled into a more sedate role as the downtown shopping district, with two supermarkets, a pharmacy, a lumber yard and a movie theater. Family-oriented stores replaced the bars and hotel. A large neighborhood of modest single-family homes was built north of the Village. A new police station was constructed and the USO club became an active recreational center for the entire community.

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Post-war boom The economic boom that followed during the 1950’s created problems for Buzzards Bay, however. After two decades of national privation from the economic depression of the 1930s and the war years of the 1940s, there was strong employment and money flowing. People bought new cars and traveled more frequently to destinations like Cape Cod. All of the traffic going to the Cape from points west moved through Main Street on Routes 6 and 28. At that time, Route 6 was the longest highway in the country, stretching from the Pacific coast to the tip of the Cape. Business was good in Buzzards Bay. The post-war boom led to national changes, however, that would soon be felt on Main Street.

With the new mobility came demands for better highways, along with declining use of railroads, and the emergence of regional shopping centers that quickly displaced traditional downtown shopping districts. Buzzards Bay was about to feel the effect of all three of these trends. Construction started in 1956 on a limited access bypass road to move through traffic off of Main Street. This road not only reduced traffic in front of Main Street businesses, but it also severed the downtown from the residential area to the north. That same year, President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act that created the interstate highway system, and eventually led to the construction of Routes 195 and 495, further bypassing Buzzards Bay.

Now and future Buzzards Bay For the last half-century Buzzards Bay has seen businesses close and tourist traffic move past it instead of through it, while the military presence in Bourne declined. Most of the railroad tracks have been removed and all scheduled service ended; the State Pier was closed; and the bypass was further bypassed with the opening of Route 25, which now connects the interstate highway system with the Bourne Bridge. Despite these setbacks, the Village is now poised for renewal, with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the National Marine Life Center and a new Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Center serving as the basis of a new era for Buzzards Bay as Bourne’s downtown center of maritime education, research and entertainment.

Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Center, which replaced the World-War II USO Club in 2004

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LAND USE INFLUENCES

Buzzards Bay Village consists of five well-defined neighborhoods, each with its own dis- tinctive character and potential. This study, as well as concurrent studies being done by others, considers the needs and desires of each of these neighborhoods in suggesting plans for revitalization of the entire village. The unique qualities of these five districts also frame the goals and policies upon which this transportation plan is based.

Taylor’s point is defined by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the town marina and a tight- knit neighborhood of compact seasonal and year-round single-family residences that lies completely within the velocity flood zone.

The area west of St. Margarets Street to the town line at Cohasset Narrows developed around the railroad station. It continued to be an active downtown for all of Bourne until it was bypassed by new highways and the demise of passenger rail service in the 1950s. Redevelopment of this area has been hampered by its location within a velocity flood zone. New types of development that can be built within an area subject to flooding are needed here. With the town park as its central focus, bordered by the railroad and the Na- tional Marine Life Center, this area holds enormous potential for revitalization as a recreational destination for both residents and visitors.

North of the Bypass is a residential neighborhood that developed in the post-war years, but was shortly cut off from the village center by the Main Street bypass. This study ex- plores ways to reconnect this neighborhood to Main Street and the Canal, especially for pedestrians, bicyclists and the elderly.

Between St. Margarets Street and the Post Office is a quiet neighborhood of small, mostly year-round, single-family houses, garden apartments and scattered commercial uses. This area serves as both a link and buffer between the other neighborhoods. Its location between the primarily commercial area to the west and the predominantly government center to the east makes this neighborhood a prime candidate for redevelopment as a vibrant mixed-use village center.

East of the Post Office to the Bourne Bridge lies another mixed-use neighborhood that has more recently developed into an active downtown. The town hall, the post office and the new Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Center have made this a destination location for residents of all of Bourne’s villages. The activity generated by these government buildings also supports an active commercial marketplace that is well-situated for even more growth. The transportation challenge here will be to separate regional traffic from local traffic to the benefit of both.

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REGIONAL TRENDS

Population and age trends To a great extent the future of Buzzards Bay will be influenced, if not determined, by global, national and regional economic and social trends. Of particular importance to Buzzards Bay are regional population trends. The following table shows how Bourne and Cape Cod compare to the state, region and nation in recent population trends.

Total Resident Population Percent Change 1990 2000 2005 1990-2000 2000-2005 United States 248,709,873 281,421,906 296,410,404 +13.2 +5.3 Northeast 50,809,229 53,594,378 52,924,571 +5.5 -1.2 Massachusetts 6,016,425 6,349,097 6,398,743 +5.5 +0.8 Cape Cod 186,605 222,230 226,514 +19.1 +1.9 Bourne 16,064 18,721 19,356 +16.5 +3.4 Source: U.S. Census Bureau The northeastern states have recently been experiencing a decrease in total population. Massachusetts population growth has flattened and growth on the Cape has slowed con- siderably. Each of these areas has seen a subsequent increase in the average age of the remaining population. The median age in Massachusetts has leapt from 36.5 to 38.2 in only five years between 2000 and 2005, while it has increased from 44.6 to 45.6 on Cape Cod. These are remarkable changes in a statistic that rarely changes at all.

Economic trends These trends are likely to continue as younger people move west for better employment opportunities and lower costs of living. Nevada grew 66 percent between 1990 and 2000. Arizona grew 50 percent, and Colorado and Idaho each grew 30 percent during this time. For this area, these trends will lead to increasing demand for housing, recreational and medical facilities designed to serve a growing group of retirees. At the same time, this area is likely to see a decreasing demand for housing and schools to serve young families.

Industry 1990 2000 % Change This table shows some startling changes in em- Agriculture & Fisheries 2,732 874 -68.0 ployment for selected Construction 8,191 9,741 +18.9 industry groups on Cape Manufacturing 6,421 4,875 -24.1 Cod between 1990 and 2000. While the more Wholesale Trade 1,885 2,252 +19.5 traditional jobs in agri- Retail Trade 18,846 15,022 -20.3 culture and fisheries de- Real Estate & Finance 6,031 6,609 +9.6 clined dramatically, em- Health & Education 12,589 22,732 +80.6 ployment in health care and education nearly Public Administration 4,545 5,016 +10.4 doubled. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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Tourism and construction have historically been the strongest elements of the Cape Cod economy, but the nature of both has been changing. Both sectors continue to grow, but at slower rates than other segments of the local economy. As developable land becomes scarcer and the Cape reaches build-out status, the nature of the construction industry is changing also. Fewer traditional subdivisions are being developed, but contractors have seen increasing demand for additions and conversions of seasonal homes to year-round use. Demand for year-round service businesses has increased dramatically at the same time that service employees find themselves priced out of the local housing market.

Effects on transportation planning The implications of these changes on transportation planning are fairly clear. Cape Cod in general, and Bourne in particular, continue to see increases in year-round population, but not in peak seasonal population. The area’s road system is designed to handle large seasonal increases, which results in excess capacity during the off-seasons. As a result, new highways are generally not needed for year-round use, and capacity increases are needed only on roads such as Sandwich Road, that have long been inadequate at peak times. Public transit systems will need to be expanded and improved, however, to serve not only increased year-round demand, but also to meet the needs of an aging population.

As the state’s and the Cape’s populations have been getting older, they have also been getting wealthier. Traditional income figures are not reliable indicators of wealth in an area with such as large population of retired persons. While statistics on wealth are difficult to document, indicators such as the size and cost of new housing, changes in the types of retail outlets, and increasing demand for golf and marina facilities provide ample circumstantial evidence of this trend.

Active retirees with financial means, and semi-retired business people, are less likely to make a daily commute into the city, but are more likely to travel frequently for both business and pleasure. They want quick and convenient access to airports, while living within minutes of their favorite recreational activities. They are less likely to travel by bus or train, preferring the convenience and privacy of their own cars. While Bourne saw a dramatic rise in its commuter population during the past few decades, the number of commuters is likely to actually decrease in coming decades.

Effects on Buzzards Bay Buzzards Bay is in a fortunate position to adapt to these regional changes. It can offer all the benefits of living on Cape Cod, with the convenience of being located only an hour from Boston and Providence. This combination should appeal to the growing group of retired or semi-retired people who want to maintain close connections with the cities, but no longer need to live close enough for a daily commute. The village also needs to recast itself as both a place to live and a place to visit, rather than a place to pass by on the way to somewhere else. Because it is unlike any other Cape Cod village, Buzzards Bay has a unique opportunity to create a vibrant semi-urban community where its residents enjoy living, working, shopping and their favorite recreational activities all within walking distance of each other.

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MEMBER SURVEY Purpose & methodology The opinions of Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association members are important in order to identify the most critical transportation planning issues. To learn these opinions, and to determine the relative importance of identified issues, a brief one-page survey was mailed to every member of the Association. A total of 105 surveys were sent out; five were returned by the Post Office as undeliverable; 45 responses were received. Many included additional comments. The 45% return rate shows a high level of interest in the subject by Association members, and results in a statistically significant response.

Respondents were given 19 statements related to transportation and land use in Buzzards Bay. For each statement they were asked whether they strongly agreed, somewhat agreed, had no opinion, somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed. They were also asked to rank whether the idea stated was of high, medium or low priority to them. Finally, they were asked to rank the six most important issues. The results are summarized in the appendix to this report. Issues are ranked by total of strongly agree plus somewhat agree responses less total of strongly disagree plus somewhat disagree.

Survey responses The top four issues reinforce the desire of village residents and business people to stick with the traditional role of Buzzards Bay as Bourne’s downtown center, and to encourage tourism-related businesses and events such as the Scallop Festival. The fourth highest priority is to make the town park an international tourist attraction, although several respondents noted that it should primarily appeal to local residents and seasonal visitors.

The next four issues, ranking closely behind the tourism issues, are all transportation- related. Heading this list is establishing an inter-city bus terminal in Buzzards Bay, followed by extending commuter rail service to the village and bringing back Amtrak passenger rail. Lastly in this group, but surprisingly high in overall priority, is the idea of building visitor slips to entice small boat users of the Canal to stop in Buzzards Bay.

Moderate priority was given to the next three issues: a commuter parking lot, high-speed ferry service and public parking lots built by the Town. More specific questions on these issues might have elicited different responses. Commuter parking lots, for instance, will certainly be associated with commuter rail service and a bus terminal. Ferry service might place excessive demands on parking and road capacities. Public parking built by private investors might be more desirable than lots built by the Town.

Also of moderate priority, but strongly supported, is elimination of the two rotaries, Me- morial Circle and Belmont Circle. Getting mixed reviews, and low priority, are a seasonal water taxi crossing the Canal and moving Routes 6 and 28 back to Main Street. Both routes are now directed to the by-pass. Eliminating the by-pass nearly split the vote, but a majority strongly or somewhat disagreed that it should remain as it is. Down- grading the bypass to a local street came in at the bottom of the list, behind the idea of letting pedestrians cross the Canal on the railroad bridge.

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TRANSPORTATION GOAL AND POLICIES

The transportation goal of the Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association is to optimize access to and within the Village of Buzzards Bay from all points in the town and region and by all means of transportation with the intent of making the village more accessible to Bourne residents and an inviting destination for visitors from all parts of the world

Transportation-related issues facing Buzzards Bay Village include the following: • Intermixing of regional through-traffic with local traffic, which leads both to bypass the area; • Isolation of the traditional downtown shopping district at the west end of Main Street by the Routes 6 and 28 bypass, and the interstate highway system; • Restriction of smooth traffic flow by Belmont Circle and Memorial Circle; • Lack of railroad and inter-city bus service to the Village; • Limited mooring space for visitors arriving by boat; • Barriers to safe pedestrian and bicycle circulation into and within the Village; • Shortage of parking for special events and during the peak summer season; • Potential for further isolation when Cohasset Narrows Bridge is replaced; and • Image of Buzzards Bay as a place that’s hard to get to and not worth visiting.

To address these issues, the Vitalization Association should consider adopting the following transportation policies, to be advocated to government leaders at all levels: • Separate through traffic from local traffic so as to eliminate the perception that Buzzards Bay is a point of congestion to be avoided; • Improve the visibility of and access to Main Street Buzzards Bay by regional traffic and visitors to the area; • Make access to visitor attractions at the west end of Main Street convenient, easy and inviting from the interstate highways, the Bourne Bridge and the bypass; • Eliminate restrictions to smooth traffic flow by reconfiguring the Route 25 ramps, Belmont Circle and Memorial Circle; • Take positive actions to promote construction of a commuter parking lot and inter-city bus terminal in Buzzards Bay Village; • Expand mooring space for visitors arriving by boat and traversing the Canal; • Build new sidewalks and bicycle paths and remove barriers to safe pedestrian and bicycle circulation into and within the village; • Increase the availability of public parking spaces, especially around the town park and visitor attractions at the western end of Main Street; • Lobby strongly for replacement of the Cohasset Narrows Bridge to be done in a manner that does not interrupt traffic flow on Routes 6 and 28; and • Actively promote and advertise transportation improvements in Buzzards Bay to alter the public image of the village as a place that’s hard to get to.

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A VISION OF BUZZARDS BAY IN 2027

Introduction Bourne leaders have talked for years about revitalizing the Main Street business district of Buzzards Bay, often with glowing memories of how busy this area was fifty years ago. Our world has changed dramatically in the last half-century, though, and we now need to think not of how Buzzards Bay was in 1957, but how we would like it to be in 2057. To be more practical, let’s look ahead only 20 years. The village community envisioned in the following paragraphs requires no new technologies and no vast government programs. Buzzards Bay has incredible assets and needs only a new way of looking at itself to become a more enjoyable place to live and work. Here is how it could be in 2027.

The west end The area between Cohasset Narrows and St. Margaret Street has become a center for marine-related education, research and entertainment. It draws visitors from all over the world who are attracted by the Maritime Academy, National Marine Life Center and Bridge Park. Visitors come year-round to hone their skills, increase their knowledge, and to experience the family-oriented entertainment venue focused on the park and canal. Boaters, who once cruised past Buzzards Bay on the canal, now make the village a destination, able to moor their vessels for a few hours or a few days at the transient mooring facilities adjacent to the park. Tourists and rail fans enjoy the scenic excursion trains and dinner trains now based in Buzzards Bay, as well as the frequent rail service connecting the Cape with the Middleboro/Lakeville commuter rail station.

Tour buses bring in groups during all four seasons to enjoy the weekly events at the Bridge Park and the ice skating during the winter months. Canal tour boats now operate out of Buzzards Bay, and high-speed ferries take visitors to and from Martha’s Vineyard, Woods Hole, and New Bedford. Pedestrians and bicyclists using the canal service roads cross the canal at designated times when the railroad bridge is lowered, or, during the summer months, take the free water taxi across the canal at the bridge. Parking is readily available in the garage located behind the shops on Main Street. Condominium residences built above the garage offer million dollar views across Buzzards Bay, and the restaurants and shops on the lower level are busy year-round.

Winter ice skating in the Town Park – one concept from the 2005 Bridge Park Design Competition

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The middle Between St. Margaret Street and the Post Office, a thriving year-round residential neighborhood has developed, extending from the Canal to the old by-pass, which is now known as Buzzards Bay Boulevard. The new public safety complex, built on the site of the old National Guard Armory, allows both the police and fire departments quick access to all parts of the village. New townhouse-style condominium and apartment complexes have replaced most of the smaller houses south of the old bypass, connected by a network of pathways to the several town parks, the Community Center and the canal. Many of the people living in this area walk to work at the nearby laboratories and office complexes. These centers now house marine industries that have developed from the research institutions in Woods Hole, as well as financial and data management businesses that were freed from their downtown Boston locations by the advent of high-speed communications technology.

The east end The area between the Post Office and the Bourne Bridge has become Bourne’s downtown shopping and government center, with its direct access to each of the town’s other villages. Belmont Circle has been eliminated and the Route 25 interchange reconfigured straight into a T-intersection with Main Street and Scenic Highway. An active inter-city bus terminal, with a multi-level parking garage, has been built on the old traffic circle, close to the interchange, but separated by an attractive park around the wetlands area. Local residents have easy access to town offices and their favorite stores, but visitors still wend their way down Main Street to the attractions at the western end of the Village.

The Community Center Gymnasium is always busy

Buzzards Bay may be the only village on Cape Cod where growth is not only tolerable, but also desirable. It has good highway access, sits on the mainland side of the canal, and has the basic infrastructure in place to support new development. The vision outlined here would not burden town finances the way suburban sprawl does, but would bring new revenue into the town to support the costs of needed facilities, such as wastewater treat- ment, that Bourne will have to build whether or not Buzzards Bay reawakens.

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Aerial Photograph of Buzzards Bay Village 2001

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HIGHWAY ACCESS

Existing conditions Buzzards Bay Village enjoys remarkably good access to state and national highways. Interstate Routes 195 and 495 both end at Massachusetts Route 25, which in turn ends at the Bourne Bridge. The Route 25 interchange with U.S. Route 6 and Massachusetts Route 28 lies at the eastern end of Main Street and the bypass in Buzzards Bay. Routes 6 and 28 both traverse the entire length of the village on the bypass. Route 6 connects Main Street with the Mid-Cape Highway and Route 3 to Boston, by way of Scenic High- way and the recently completed Sagamore interchange.

Despite having all these routes converge at Belmont Circle, Buzzards Bay does not take advantage of this access, and is hurt by congestion on these routes at peak summer travel times. Congestion results from backups on Route 25 and Scenic Highway caused by the limited capacity of the Bourne rotary and Sandwich Road, by through traffic using Routes 6 and 28 to bypass backups on Route 25, and by the intermingling of through traffic with local traffic around Belmont Circle. Separation of through traffic from local traffic is a key policy of Bourne’s Local Comprehensive Plan.

Congestion at Belmont Circle is likely to get worse now that the Sagamore Rotary has been replaced by a conventional interchange. Seasonal travelers coming from points west on Route 25 and heading to locations down-Cape have traditionally continued across the Bourne Bridge and taken Sandwich Road to the Mid-Cape Highway in order to avoid backups on Scenic Highway caused by congestion at the Sagamore Rotary. Re- moval of the Sagamore rotary will allow much more free movement of traffic onto the Sagamore Bridge, making it, and Scenic Highway, a better choice for down-Cape traffic than the Bourne Bridge, with its backups from the Bourne rotary and Sandwich Road.

Future plans Bourne’s Local Comprehensive Plan calls for replacing the Bourne rotary with a conventional interchange, as was done with the Sagamore rotary, and expanding Sandwich Road to a four-lane parkway. These two highest-priority actions will be expensive, however, and not likely to be done soon. There are several relatively inexpensive actions that the Town and state can take to alleviate the seasonal congestion and improve both the visibility of and access to Main Street in Buzzards Bay. One is to increase the capacity of the Route 25 interchange and the other is to reconfigure both Memorial Circle and Belmont Circle to make the village entrances more inviting.

The Route 25 interchange currently merges all traffic coming off the highway into a single lane that must yield to, and merge with, traffic going around Belmont Circle. Traffic coming from down-Cape on the Scenic Highway (Route 6) and from the west on Routes 6 and 28 is forced from two lanes in each direction to a single lane leading to Route 25 and the Bourne Bridge. Bringing the interchange straight through to a T-intersection, with a traffic light, at the junction of Main Street and Scenic Highway would remove most of the through traffic from Belmont Circle, greatly improving access to Buzzards Bay and moving the through traffic more freely.

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MAIN STREET

Existing conditions Main Street has long been Bourne’s downtown business district. Town residents in all of Bourne’s villages have expressed the desire to revitalize Main Street and strengthen its traditional role as the town center. The Local Comprehensive Plan strongly supports this desire. To stimulate business development on Main Street, and to make it more attractive to visitors, the town has added sidewalks, narrowed the travel ways, planted street trees and installed brick bump-outs along the western half of the street.

As part of this transportation analysis, traffic engineers at Maguire Group Inc. of Provi- dence, Rhode Island, conducted a capacity analysis of Main Street to determine its current level of service and ability to carry traffic under several growth assumptions. A copy of the complete Maguire report is included in the appendix to this plan. Maguire determined that Main Street currently operates at Level of Service (LOS) A over most of its length, meaning that drivers seldom experience significant delays at any time. If traffic levels were to double, Main Street would drop to LOS B, still relatively free of traffic congestion. It appears that no capacity increase will be needed on Main Street for the foreseeable future. The manner in which Main Street is developed in coming years, however, will be influenced by transportation-related decisions made now.

Three districts For planning purposes, we need to see Main Street as three separate and distinct areas: the west end from Memorial Circle to St. Margarets Street; the central area between St. Margarets Street and the Post Office; and the east end from the Post Office to Belmont Circle. The east end has been the government center, focused on Town Hall and the Community Center, and was the village center in the 19th century. The central area has always been primarily a residential neighborhood, centered on St. Margaret’s and St. Pe- ter’s churches, with scattered business uses along Main Street.

The west end was the traditional center of town during the 20th century, focused on the railroad station, the theater and stores that included a lumber yard, First National market and a pharmacy. The town park still draws large crowds to special events during the summer.

In recent years these patterns have begun to change somewhat. The west end has seen growth in the Maritime Academy and tourist-related businesses and activities displacing the more traditional downtown shops. Special events such as the Scallop Festival and band concerts attract visitors from the larger region. The central area has seen more

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commercial development scattered among the residences, following no apparent plan. The east end continues to be the center of town government, but has also become more like a true downtown business district, with new offices, restaurants and stores. These trends are generally beneficial and are likely to continue with or without intervention.

Action plan The east end is thriving largely because it is readily accessible by road. This accessibility is hampered during the summer months, however, by the through traffic that is forced to mix with local traffic around Belmont Circle. To improve this situation, and to make Main Street more accessible to residents from all parts of Bourne, efforts should be made to separate the traffic that is simply moving through the area from the local traffic that is trying to reach the area. Public transit also needs to be improved at the east end of Main Street, by constructing a parking lot and terminal for inter-city buses. The sidewalk and streetscape improvements made earlier to the western portions of Main Street should be continued the rest of the way to Belmont Circle.

The central area is likely to remain primarily residential, but gradually redeveloped at higher densities, with more town-house and garden apartment types of housing. Com- mercial uses will tend to shift away from businesses that serve regional markets, such as automobile and boat dealers, and toward businesses that serve the immediate neighborhood, such as food markets and services. Efforts should be made in this area to improve pedestrian and bicycle circulation within the neighborhood and connecting with sur- rounding neighborhoods.

The west end will continue to be dominated by the Maritime Academy, with its newly expanding programs for continuing education and recertification of maritime licenses. The possible development of the Town Park into a showplace that attracts visitors from all over the world, while serving the year-round needs of local residents, would change the image of the village from a place to pass by to a place to visit. Efforts in this area should focus on increasing public parking and reactivating train service to and through Buzzards Bay. There is also vast untapped potential to improve connections between Main Street and the canal, with the thousands of pleasure boaters who pass through on their way to someplace else.

The National Marine Life Center is a perfect example of the kind of facility that Buzzards Bay needs in order to become a year-round destination known for its marine education, research and entertainment as stated in the Town of Bourne Local Comprehensive Plan.

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MAIN STREET BYPASS Existing conditions Few issues in Buzzards Bay are as divisive as the question of what to do with the Main Street bypass. This road was built by the state in 1956 to alleviate congestion on Main Street when all of the traffic between Cape Cod and points west traveled through the village. The bypass no longer carries much tourist traffic, which now uses Route 25. Some community leaders have advocated removing the bypass and selling the land or convert- ing it to a parking lot. Others like the direct connection between Belmont Circle and South Wareham shopping areas and want it to remain as it is.

Traffic counts compiled by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation show that year-round Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) was 8,800 vehicles on Main Street in 2004 and 8,400 vehicles on the bypass in 1997. Adjusting for the seven year time difference in these counts suggests that each road carries approximately half the traffic moving through Buzzards Bay year-round. Casual observation seems to indicate more traffic on Main Street than on the bypass. The counts are similar, but the bypass has more lanes and traffic moves faster, so it seems to be less busy.

Counts made on summer weekdays by the Cape Cod Commission found Average Daily Traffic (ADT) was 10,521 vehicles on the bypass in 2002 and 13,691 vehicles on Main Street in 1996, indicating that Main Street still gets at least 30 percent more traffic than the bypass during the summer months. The following illustration shows the relative amount of summer traffic on these roads, indicated by width of the heavy black lines. The heavy lines to the right are the Bourne Bridge and Route 25 interchange.

Source: University of Pennsylvania Study Report

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Effect of potential changes In an effort to provide some hard information upon which to decide the future of the bypass, highway engineers at Maguire Group evaluated the current configuration and traffic counts on both Main Street and the bypass, and then projected future travel conditions on both roads under several planning scenarios. After viewing the traffic counts, the Maguire engineers immediately concluded that eliminating the bypass would place such heavy traffic on Main Street that increased congestion and delays would adversely affect traffic movement and eventually lead to pressure to reopen the bypass.

Maguire then analyzed each road under two growth assumptions and three road configu- rations. They used a standard assumption for traffic growth in Massachusetts of 0.2 percent per year for their low-growth analysis and a more aggressive assumption that traffic levels would double in 20 years, averaging 3.5 percent per year, for their high-growth analysis. Maguire then tested these growth assumptions on each road if (1) no changes were made to the existing roads, (2) the bypass were reduced to one travel lane in each direction for its entire length, and (3) both roads were changed to make a one-way, two- lane loop around the village center.

For each of the six scenarios, Maguire then estimated expected Level of Service (LOS). Level of Service is an objective measure used by traffic engineers to measure how well the roadway system operates. LOS A describes primarily free flow traffic at average travel speeds; LOS C describes stable operations with some restrictions; and LOS F is considered breakdown conditions. More detailed definitions of LOS levels can be found in the appendix to this report.

Under current conditions, Main Street operates at LOS B west of Harrison Avenue and LOS A for the remainder of its length. The bypass operates at LOS B west of St. Marga- rets Street and LOS A for the remainder of its length. In both cases the lower LOS at the west end is caused by restrictions at Memorial Circle. Under the low-growth assumptions, both roads will operate at LOS B for their entire lengths. If traffic should double on both roads, they will each operate at LOS C at the west ends and LOS B elsewhere. Again, the lower rating at the west end is due to restrictions at the circle, where traffic is effectively reduced to one lane and must yield to traffic in the circle.

If the bypass were to be reduced to one travel lane in each direction for its entire length, both Main Street and the bypass would still operate at LOS B under current traffic levels and low-growth projections, except at their west ends where they enter Memorial Circle. If traffic levels doubled, Main Street would continue to operate at LOS B east of Harrison Avenue, but drop to LOS F entering Memorial Circle. The bypass would operate at LOS C for its entire length. In other words, the bypass could be reduced to one lane in each direction without severely affecting traffic on either road, provided that Memorial Circle is reconfigured or eliminated.

If traffic were to be directed into a one-way pair alignment, with two lanes running in one direction on Main Street and two lanes running in the other direction on the bypass, traffic flow under current conditions and both growth scenarios would be slightly better than with the current alignment. The improvement would not be significant, however, and

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would be offset by the inconvenience imposed on drivers having to sometimes travel a mile or more to go next door. This configuration would certainly impair downtown business activity and discourage visitors, so is not recommended.

Boulevard design concept

This concept plan of the bypass reconfigured as a boulevard, with on- street parking and a separate bicycle lane, was suggested by graduate students from the University of Pennsyl- vania School of Design Department of City and Regional Planning in their May 2005 study report. This concept would tend to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety for pedestrians. The Penn students suggested allowing direct access to abutting properties, but the concept would also work without the on- street parking and keeping the bypass a limited- access road.

This rendering by the University of Pennsylvania students shows how the bypass might look if it were to be reconfigured into a boulevard. This view is looking east from the west side of the St. Margarets Street intersection. It shows a landscaped median strip, two travel lanes in each direction, and the bicycle lane, separated from the vehicle lanes by another median.

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Action plan Based upon the analysis summarized above, as well as community desires to keep the bypass open and not redirect Routes 6 and 28 back to Main Street, the village would be wise to no longer consider eliminating the bypass completely. Whether it should be reconfigured, and how that might be done, remains a valid topic for discussion, though.

It appears that there would be no advantage to the town in taking over the bypass from the state, as it would only shift the cost of maintaining the road and traffic signals to the town. Keeping the bypass under state jurisdiction would also mean that the state would be responsible for the cost of future reconstruction, which the roadway may need soon. At that time, town and village leaders should consider advocating for reducing the width of the pavement to two lanes, one in each direction, without a median barrier.

Reducing the road geometry to two lanes would have several advantages. It would reduce the visual impact of the now three- and four-lane roadway; it would reduce the tendency of drivers to speed on this road; and it would help to reconnect neighborhoods on both sides of the bypass. It would also increase the safety of pedestrians at the crosswalks by reducing the distance of crossing.

The right-of-way varies in width from 80 to 110 feet. Two 12-foot travel lanes with 8- foot shoulders would be only 40 feet wide, leaving ample room for more landscaping, sidewalks and a separate bicycle path the length of the road. If the National Guard armory were to be taken over by the town and redeveloped into a public safety complex for both police and fire department headquarters, direct access with a center turn lane would be appropriate. There would also be room within the right-of-way for a ride share parking lot, which will be further discussed in the section of this report on parking.

At left is a portion of the block map centered on the armory, showing the relatively wide right-of- way of the bypass. Note that there is also ample space to create a round- about at the intersection of St. Margarets Street, should the village decide such a traffic calming device is needed in the future.

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MEMORIAL CIRCLE

Existing conditions When the Main Street bypass was built, traffic circles were placed at both ends of the village to enable smooth interchange of traffic. Belmont Circle, at the east end, was origi- nally similar in size to the Bourne rotary at the other side of the Bourne Bridge, but was enlarged to its current configuration when Route 25 was built. Memorial Circle, at the west end, is a small egg-shaped rotary with an inaccessible memorial park on it. These two rotaries represented best practice in highway design at the time, but are now obsolete.

Memorial Circle forms the entrance to Buzzards Bay for traffic coming into town from Wareham on Routes 6 and 28. It is not a welcoming entrance. It is confusing to visitors and dangerous to everyone, because it is not obvious at first that vehicles are entering a rotary circle and must yield to traffic in the circle. There is nothing inviting visitors and little indication of any benefit to visitors in taking Main Street instead of the bypass.

Entering Memorial Cir- cle from the east this view offers very little incentive to visitors to take Main Street instead of the bypass. Few people realize that there are memorial stones on the circle.

The capacity analysis conducted by traffic engineers at Maguire Group for this study found that Memorial Circle has become a common bottleneck for both Main Street and the bypass. The effect is minimal now, and causes only minor disruptions of traffic flow, but will become significant as traffic volumes increase in the future. The Maguire analysis recommends reconfiguring Memorial Circle to increase its capacity.

Possible reconfigurations The simplest reconfiguration would involve widening the rotary and striping it for two- lane traffic throughout. This would increase its capacity, but would not solve the basic problem of collisions caused by drivers who are unfamiliar with traffic circles. Other options include reverting back to a simple T-intersection or creating a slip merge arrangement similar to those commonly used at highway interchanges.

A choice that will face the highway engineers and community leaders when it comes time to replace Memorial Circle will be whether to make Main Street or the bypass the through route. Assuming that the bypass remains a state highway carrying Routes 6 and 28, it would seem logical to make it the through road, thereby requiring drivers coming from the west to make a right turn onto Main Street. Making Main Street the direct connection, thereby requiring bypass traffic to make a deliberate left turn, however, would result in more visitors using Main Street instead of the bypass.

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Action plan This sketch shows a simple solution that would eliminate the rotary, double the capacity of the roadways, reduce the amount of paving by nearly one-half, and still leave a direct route from Cranberry Highway to Main Street. This design is similar to the Route 130 intersection with Route 6A in Sandwich, near the Bourne town line. It shows the bypass as a two-lane through road to the Cohasset Narrows Bridge. Main Street would intersect opposite Lincoln Ave., where there would most likely be a traffic light. Through traffic coming from the west could continue straight into the village, or turn right at the light, if it missed the first turn. A welcoming sign placed at the split would direct visitors to Main Street. Both traffic flow and safety would be improved in all directions.

Whichever way the new intersection is designed, it will free up a substantial parcel of land that can then become a usable park. This park could become a true memorial, with some off-street parking spaces and sitting areas for visitors to contemplate the meaning of the memorials that are now locked into the middle of the rotary. It could also become a welcoming gateway to the community, with an information kiosk and scenic overlook taking advantage of the views of Buttermilk Bay and Cohasset Narrows.

This is a relatively inexpensive solution to multiple problems. No land taking would be involved, nor would any road need to be closed to traffic for extended periods. Grading would be minimal. The simplified layout and reduced pavement area would result in long-term savings on maintenance and plowing. This is not an urgent project, but should be scheduled for completion within the next ten years. It might even be done at the same time that the Cohasset Narrows Bridge is rebuilt, now scheduled for 2010.

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BELMONT CIRCLE

Existing conditions When Belmont Circle was built it represented the best thinking of the time for mixing and sorting large amounts of traffic crossing at a point. The idea was to get all the traffic moving in the same direction then let it split off smoothly without stopping. At that time all of the traffic coming to Cape Cod and the islands from the west, and all of the traffic bound for Falmouth and the islands from the north, met at the east end of Buzzards Bay.

The traffic from the west now bypasses this point, but half of the southbound traffic is still forced to go around the rotary, intermixing with local traffic and creating an inconvenient and dangerous situation. Belmont Circle also acts as a physical and psychologi- cal barrier to people who might otherwise visit Main Street businesses.

Local residents, especially older drivers, avoid the circle because traffic seems to be coming at them from all directions, and crossing three lanes to get to Main Street becomes a dangerously threatening maneuver. Visitors, unfamiliar with rotary circles, are often con- fused and frightened by them and do not even realize that they are missing anything in Buzzards Bay. To a lesser extent, Memorial Circle blocks access to the west end of Main Street. The time has come to reconfigure both rotaries.

The Belmont Circle entrance to Buzzards Bay village does not wel- come or provide information to entice motor- ists to visit the Main Street attractions and businesses.

Action plan Unlike Memorial Circle, however, Belmont Circle does not need to be eradicated. The problems with this circle can be solved by separating the through traffic from local traffic and reverting to pre-bypass conditions, once again making each road that surrounds the circle two-way traffic. As with suggested changes to Memorial Circle, paved area around Belmont Circle would be reduced, capacity increased and a much more welcoming entrance to Main Street would be created.

Looking first at the access ramps to and from Route 25, these ramps should be widened to two lanes in each direction and run directly to a T-intersection at Main Street/Scenic Highway. Building this interchange with single lanes has to have been a colossal blunder on the part of the designers. During the summer months these ramps carry more than 40,000 cars per day on average and far more at peak times. Four-lane Scenic Highway and three- to four- lane Route 28 are connected to the six-lane Route 25 by two one-lane ramps. Each needs to be widened as soon as possible to two lanes at the points where the off-ramps merge and the on-ramps split.

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Visitors approaching Buzzards Bay from any direction will come to a traffic light at the end of the new exit ramp, where they can see welcoming signs without being distracted by rotary traffic, and decide to turn onto Main Street or to come back later to shop or enjoy the attractions of Buzzards Bay. With the Route 25 connection to Routes 6 and 28 reconfigured, the other three sides of Belmont Circle are freed of through traffic and can be reconfigured to better handle the local traffic.

The connection between Head of the Bay Road and Old Bridge Road should be straight- ened and reestablished as a two-way road, with a traffic light at the intersection with the bypass. This light would replace the pedestrian crossing light now located near this intersection. Main Street would remain three lanes at this point, but would revert to two-way travel. The road on the north side of the circle would become a two-lane two-way extension of the bypass connecting directly to the southbound ramp between Route 25 and Scenic Highway/Main Street. With the heaviest traffic moved to one edge, the center of the circle might be converted to a real park or other practical use.

This sketch illustrates how Belmont Circle might be reconfigured to separate the through traffic from local traffic and make the Main Street business district more inviting and accessible. Capacity would be increased on all roads, while the amount of paving, and related maintenance costs, would be reduced. Like the solution proposed for Memorial Circle, this proposal is a relatively inexpensive solution to several serious traffic issues. Because all of it lies within the state right-of-way, the design and reconstruction of Bel- mont Circle would be the responsibility of the state.

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INTER-CITY BUS SERVICE

Current conditions Intercity bus service now by-passes Buzzards Bay entirely. Peter Pan Bus Company currently provides regularly scheduled service between Bourne and Boston, Logan Airport, New Bedford, Providence, and New York City, with trips originating in Woods Hole, Falmouth and Hyannis. The Bourne station is located at the Tedeschi convenience store just west of the Bourne rotary. While this location is convenient for Bourne residents living south of the Canal, it requires that residents living north of the Canal cross the bridge. Commuter parking is severely limited, with only 42 spaces, and often unavailable after the morning commute.

Intermodal connections Town officials have suggested for many years that an intermodal transportation center be located at the west end of Main Street near the railroad station. The logic behind this idea is to link automobile, bus, train and possibly ferry transportation services in a single location. Area business owners see this as a key step in revitalizing Main Street as Bourne’s downtown business district.

There are several flaws in this idea, though. Access to the train station requires travel the full length of Main Street or the by-pass from any other part of Bourne. It is highly unlikely that the bus companies, and their customers, would tolerate the extra time that this transit would add to every trip. Commuters would be doubly penalized by having to add this time to their daily drive as well as to their bus trip. Local businesses could be hurt by the increased demands on already limited parking in this area.

The obvious solution to this quandary is to locate the bus station as close as possible to the Route 25 highway interchange. This point is openly accessible to all Bourne villages, would require minimum interruption of bus trips, and would better serve the population residing north of the Canal, which is the fastest growing area of Bourne and is likely to continue being the area of highest growth in the future.

The downside to this location is that residents living south of the Canal would have to cross the bridge. This may not be as severe a penalty as it first appears, however, when you consider that traffic crossing the bridge is heaviest on-Cape in the morning and off- Cape in the evening. It also would be offset by the potential increase in parking spaces that could be available.

Regional planners might also decry the loss of bus and train connection from locating the bus station at the east end of Main Street. In reality, however, there is little need for this connection. Commuters tend to travel either by bus or by train, rarely using both modes. If ferry service were ever to locate near the train station, a shuttle service could be run between the two terminals. Others might point out that the area around the interchange is completely built out, with no land available for a commuter parking lot. They would be overlooking the large tract in the center of Belmont Circle.

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Action plan Belmont Circle holds many positive attributes for use as a commuter parking lot and bus station. It is publicly owned, mostly clear and level, and directly accessible from the highway, the village center, and all other parts of town. It has enough usable area to ac- commodate a bus terminal and a 170-car parking lot, with ample buffers and without in- fringing on the wetland area along its eastern border. Construction would be relatively inexpensive and cause minimum disruption to existing traffic flow or neighboring uses.

This sketch shows how a bus terminal and parking lot might be laid out within Belmont Circle, if the traffic around the circle were to be reconfigured as suggested in this study. Buses coming from Woods Hole, Boston and New York would come in off the Route 25 ramp and enter the terminal opposite the CVS entrance. Buses coming from Hyannis could cross the Sagamore Bridge instead of the Bourne Bridge, and come in along Scenic Highway instead of Sandwich Road. They would go around the circle in a clockwise direction to enter the terminal.

All buses leaving the terminal would take a left in front of the Exxon station, a left at Head of the Bay Road, another left at Main Street, then either a left onto the Route 25 ramp or continue straight on Scenic Highway to the Sagamore Bridge and Hyannis. If future demand warranted expansion of the commuter lot, a three-level parking structure could be built to hold 500 cars. A ticket office and coffee shop might be included. At first tickets would be sold on the buses or at nearby convenience stores.

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LOCAL BUS AND TAXI SERVICE Current bus service Local bus service in Buzzards Bay is quite good, especially for elderly residents who either cannot or choose not to drive. The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Au- thority (GATRA) runs hourly service, called the OWL (for Onset Wareham Link), in a loop connecting the Peter Pan bus stop at Tedeschi’s market in Bourne with Cranberry Plaza in Wareham, stopping at Bourne Oaks housing for elderly, Main Street and Onset Pier. The fare is only 50 cents for students and persons who are over 60 or disabled, and $1.00 for everyone else. Personal Care Attendants ride free when accompanying a disabled passenger. Monthly and 20-ride passes are also available at nominal cost.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) operates a dial-a-ride service called the b-bus that will deliver customers between their homes and destinations. The b-bus is a low-cost public service that provides door-to-door, ride-by-appointment service for people of all ages for trips for any purpose, including school, work, shopping, visiting friends, medical appointments, and even Boston medical trips.

B-buses carry up to 19 passengers and are all wheelchair lift-equipped. This service is not limited to elderly or handicapped persons, although priority is given to these groups. The b-bus service has had limited use in Bourne, as the bus is often only available within several hours of the time the rider wishes to travel.

The Bourne Council on Aging also operates a shuttle bus on a limited basis for elderly residents. Demand for the Council’s shuttle is high enough to keep two buses busy, but funding has not been available to purchase or operate a second bus.

Taxi service Buzzards Bay currently has one licensed taxi. There appears to be no impediment to anybody operating a taxi in Bourne, but the market is obviously too weak to support more than one cab. Bourne General Bylaws require an annual license for each vehicle used in taxi service within the town. Licenses are issued by the Board of Selectmen and cost $15. The bylaw allows taxis from other towns to pick up or deliver riders in Bourne, but prohibits taxis that are not licensed in Bourne from operating between two points within the town.

Action Plan Bourne officials, the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce and the Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association should continue to support and promote the OWL bus, the B-bus and the Council on Aging service by lobbying for financial support from both the state and from town meeting, and by encouraging use of these services. There does not appear to be any market demand or social need for additional local bus services at this time, other than the need for an additional Council on Aging shuttle mentioned above.

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COMMUTER RAIL SERVICE

Proposed service The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is considering a plan to extend commuter rail service from its current terminus at the Middleborough/Lakeville station through Wareham to Buzzards Bay. The Central Transportation Planning Staff of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) recently released a long- awaited report intended to assist public officials decide whether this extension should be built. The business community and chamber of commerce strongly support this plan, as do community leaders in Wareham, but some local leaders have expressed doubts after reading the MPO report. Questions include not just the cost of such service, but its impact on what the village will be like in the future.

Commuter rail could be the key to revitalizing Main Street in Buzzards Bay. It could make the village a more enticing place to live for people who work in Boston, but do not enjoy living in an urban environment. The kind of growth that follows may not be best for the village, though. Buzzards Bay now has the only four-year college on the Cape, the National Marine Life Center, and the core of Bourne’s government services. The Lo- cal Comprehensive Plan envisions the village as a center of marine education, research and entertainment. Village leaders need to seriously analyze whether commuter rail would advance this vision.

Benefits and costs Planners have long known that one of the best ways to stimulate growth in an area is to bring in commuter rail. When commuter rail service was extended to the area around Kingston, Hanson and North Plymouth, new houses sprouted on every available piece of land and existing house prices shot up. New businesses opened to serve the expanded population, but the only thing built near the stations was parking lots.

A study completed in 2006 by Eric Beaton for his Master of Urban Planning thesis at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design concluded that “…commuter rail is most likely to impact land use patterns when it is explicitly and clearly linked to local and regional policies for land use and development.” Beaton found that there was “…much more multi-family housing built in areas that gained commuter rail service than within areas that lost service, or in the region as a whole.” He also found no benefit to local businesses directly related to either extension or removal of commuter rail services.

The MPO report states that parking will be a key requirement if commuter service is to be extended to Buzzards Bay. It estimates a need for 1200 parking spaces and says that this will require at least eight acres of land – basically all of the town park next to the station. A four-story garage would reduce the land requirement to three acres. If the commuter parking can be provided in a way that also supports the village’s potential to be a desirable destination for visitors it would be a valuable benefit.

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Subsidy estimates in the MPO report range from $81.8 to $103.5 million for initial capital costs and as much as eight million dollars a year for operations. Up to $35 million of the capital cost estimates is for parking facilities, including a garage in Buzzards Bay. An- nual operating costs would range from $1.8 million for minimum weekday service to $8.1 million for full seven day week and holiday service. Operating cost estimates are based on the assumption that each one-way ticket will cost six dollars – less than half of the current bus fare between Bourne and South Station. Doubling the assumed fare would not eliminate the projected deficit, but it would cut it in half.

There would also be a cost to Bourne tax-payers for this service. If commuter rail is extended to Buzzards Bay, or even to Wareham, the MBTA will assess Bourne to cover a share of the subsidies. The MPO report also predicts that if a commuter rail station is built in Buzzards Bay, there will be increased automobile traffic on the canal bridges from Cape commuters who switch from buses to trains.

Travel times Driving time from the Bourne Bridge to the Buzzards Bay railroad station is four minutes under normal traffic conditions. The drive from the Bourne Bridge to the Lakeville station is 22 minutes at the speed limit or 20 minutes at normal road speeds on Routes 25/495. This section of road seldom slows to less than the speed limit even when traffic is heavy.

The MPO report estimates that the travel time by rail between Buzzards Bay and Lake- ville would be 23 minutes at the current rail speed limit of 59 miles per hour, or 19 minutes if the railbed were improved to allow speeds of 79 mph. Both trip times would be extended if additional stops were made at South Wareham or Rock Village. It would appear, therefore, that there would be no time benefit to a commuter taking the train from Buzzards Bay instead of driving to Lakeville.

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Changing demographics Ridership estimates in the MPO report assume that nearly half of the 4000 people who now commute from Cape Cod to the Boston area will switch to the train, while admitting that less than ten percent of these commuters use the existing rail service. About twice as many Cape commuters now take the bus than take the train. The future ridership estimate does not explain why this level of ridership is not now seen on the existing commuter rail services at Lakeville and Kingston. The MPO report also anticipates substantial growth in ridership from Cape Cod over the next 20 years.

More recent census data has shown, however, that population growth in Massachusetts and Cape Cod has slowed dramatically since 2000, and that the population of both the state and region has become substantially older and wealthier. The lack of employment opportunities and high cost of housing on the Cape is likely to see these trends continue indefinitely, resulting in decreasing demand for commuter rail service in the future. While older and wealthier residents are likely to travel frequently for business and for pleasure, they are less likely to commute daily by train.

Action Plan Even with widespread popular and political support, it could be many years before the commuter rail service is extended to Buzzards Bay. The extraordinarily high capital costs and continuing subsidies are likely to keep this plan on the back burner for a long time. Buzzards Bay should not, therefore, rely on commuter rail as a component of its vitalization, but should keep the option open as it makes other plans. The best way to do this is to plan parking facilities into future public and private developments around the railroad station. Parking structures are allowed within flood plains, and can provide an effective means of raising buildings above the flood levels.

Another alternative would be to bring the commuter rail to the Bourne town line at Co- hasset Narrows, but not into Bourne. A parking structure could be built over the tracks behind the businesses on Cranberry Highway. With this arrangement, Buzzards Bay would gain the benefit of a nearby commuter station, but not have to give up valuable park space or developable commercial land for parking. Bourne would become a con- tributing member of the MBTA, but the MBTA assessments would not spill over to Fal- mouth, Mashpee and Sandwich as they would if the MBTA service crossed the town line into the village. This might counter any objection that the abutting towns had toward extending the line into Bourne.

A better plan for Buzzards Bay might be to lure away some of the jobs that now draw commuters to the city. Much of the work done by financial institutions and other office- oriented businesses does not need to be done in high-rent downtown locations now that high-speed communications are widely available. These jobs could more efficiently be done closer to where the workers live, saving many hours of commuting time and reducing the need to build and subsidize commuter rail systems. While this solution may seem idealistic, the increasing cost and lost productivity associated with long commutes could lead to it happening even sooner than the commuter rail service.

33 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

NON-COMMUTER RAILROAD SERVICE

Rail freight service If commuter rail service in Buzzards Bay is, at best, many years away, what can be done now to take advantage of the railroad connection that serves the village? Suggestions often heard include moving freight to the Cape and the island ferries by rail and bringing back seasonal Amtrak service. Neither of these options is likely to happen, but there are other rail services that could be brought back and be the catalyst needed to once again make Buzzards Bay a popular destination for visitors.

A century ago nearly all freight bound for any Cape Cod destination arrived by railroad. Rail service extended from Buzzards Bay to Provincetown, with spurs to Chatham, Hyannis and Woods Hole. Freight bound for Martha’s Vine- yard and Nantucket moved by rail to Woods Hole, where it was transferred onto dollies that were then loaded onto ferries that took it to the islands. Woods Hole Ferry Terminal in 1902

As roadways were improved, freight deliveries shifted to trucks and the rails were cut back. The railroad now extends only to Hyannis and to the Massachusetts Military Res- ervation. The truck system works more efficiently than rail on the Cape and islands because shipment quantities are typically smaller than a rail car load and it allows direct movement of freight from wholesalers to retailers without the need for labor-intensive and time-consuming transfers between modes.

Passenger rail service Amtrak service to Buzzards Bay and Hyannis continues to be advocated by planners at the Cape Cod Commission and by local residents who believe that seasonal visitors will use the service, thereby reducing the number of cars on local roads. This is a belief that does not stand up to rational scrutiny and has been proven false by expensive experiments in the past. Quite simply, a family traveling on a summer vacation with children and all their vacation gear is not going to travel by rail. It would be expensive, inconvenient and difficult, and they would still need a vehicle to get around at their summer quarters. Those travelers without cars or children now have excellent bus service and use it to a surprising extent.

If neither rail freight nor Amtrak passenger service are likely to return, how long will the rails remain in place and why did the Army Corps of Engineers spend some $14 million overhauling the railroad lift bridge? The answer to these questions is tied to the military reservation. As long as the base remains a strategic military installation, the bridge and rails will remain, giving Buzzards Bay a golden opportunity to use the rails to its benefit.

34 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

Other rail options From 1982 until 1988 Buzzards Bay was the center of operations of the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad. This company ran sightseeing trips, dinner trains and non- commuter connector service that brought visitors to the Cape and islands from the Braintree MBTA station to Buzzards Bay and Hyannis. It even ran a ferry service one summer connecting the trains in Buzzards Bay with Martha’s Vineyard. This railroad service was popular and successful, bringing as many as 800 visitors on every trip. Main Street storefronts were fully occupied and the shops were busy. The service ended and the railroad went out of business, however, when the state leased the tracks to the Bay Colony Railroad. (Paolo Roffo photo)

Bay Colony began charging user fees for the tracks that made it economically infeasible to continue running most tourist trains across the canal bridge. The exception is the very popular dinner train, which generates sufficient revenue to cover the $500 cost of each bridge crossing. The Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and maintains the bridge, is now planning to take back operation of the bridge from the railroad, which would also remove the crossing fee for the tourist trains.

An alternative to MBTA commuter service that might be more appropriate for Buzzards Bay is the use of connector trains running through Buzzards Bay between Hyannis and the Middleboro/Lakeville MBTA station. This service would use self-powered railcars that can economically carry smaller volumes of passengers than the eight-car MBTA trains, but can be coupled together into larger trains at peak times. The service would primarily be targeted at persons traveling to Boston for personal or business trips, but could also work for daily commuters who prefer not to drive to Lakeville.

This photo shows the type of railcar that would be used for connector service through Buzzards Bay. Many of these cars are still in regular operation more than 50 years after they were first built. Each car is powered by a pair of diesel engines mounted under the floor. (Steven Higgins photo)

Scenic excursion trains and family theme trips are now operated out of Hyannis by the Cape Cod Central Railroad, but do not cross the canal because of the high cost of using the bridge. If this economic barrier could be removed, excursion trains could operate out of Buzzards Bay in both directions, through scenic countryside to Hyannis and along the coast between North Falmouth and Lakeville, which is one of the most scenic rail routes in the eastern United States.

35 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

The Cape Cod Central also runs dinner with children, as well as the more formal trains out of Hyannis in completely re- and expensive dinner train services. furbished antique dining cars. A railroad spokesperson has indicated that the Cape Cod Central would prefer to operate the dinner trains out of Buzzards Bay, as it would enlarge their market area and enable them to run more frequent service. They also run luncheon trains and special event trains that appeal to families Cape Cod Railroad Photo

Action plan If community leaders, working with state officials, can negotiate an equitable use of the tracks between competing railroads, the scenic excursions, dinner trains and family rail specials can return to a base in Buzzards Bay. All of these rail services could be coordinated with special events in the village to the benefit of both the railroad and the events. The railroad lift bridge is the second largest of its kind in the world (the Staten Island railroad bridge is a few feet longer). Being able to cross the bridge gives these tourist trains a unique advantage that will attract railroad fans from all over the world.

Since rail trips are not dependent on good weather they can provide a year-round reason for attracting both local residents and visitors into the village. Of all the transportation options explored for this plan, the non-commuter rail services hold the greatest promise of making Buzzards Bay a year-round destination for visitors once again, and truly revitalizing Main Street.

Cape Cod Canal bridges in winter. University of Pennsylvania student photo

36 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

FERRY SERVICE

Island ferry service No plan for transportation in Buzzards Bay would be complete without consideration of ferry service between the village and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. This service is primarily provided by the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket Steamship Authority, a state-chartered quasi-government body that controls all ferry services between Massachusetts ports and the islands. The Steamship Authority provides the only vehicle ferry connections with the islands, but licenses several private ferry companies that take passengers only.

The Steamship Authority operates routes between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard, and between Hyan- nis and Nantucket. Licensed private carriers operate between Hyannis and Nantucket, with seasonal service to Martha’s Vineyard; between Falmouth and the Vineyard; M/V Island Home, the and between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard. A Steamship Authority’s small seasonal ferry also runs out of Harwich. High- newest vehicle ferry, speed passenger ferries run out of Hyannis and New began service this year. Bedford, but not from Woods Hole.

Any ferry service operating out of Buzzards Bay is likely to be seasonal and passenger only. Vehicle ferries require onshore staging areas and slips with transfer bridges. New Bedford currently has such facilities which are underutilized, and New Bedford is closer to the islands by water than is Buzzards Bay. It is unlikely that Buzzards Bay could compete with New Bedford for such service, nor is there any reason why the village would want to be a port for vehicles to the islands, as local businesses rarely benefit from ferry-related traffic.

There is a potential market, however, for seasonal high-speed passenger ferry service out of Buzzards Bay. Such a service could capture customers who did not want to deal with peak season traffic crossing the canal and having to park in remote lots to be bused to the ferry terminals in Woods Hole and Hyannis. The economic value to the village of such service would be limited, however, and may not justify the cost of providing parking spaces for the customers and mooring facilities for the ferries.

Fast ferries similar to this 39-knot, 300- passenger, vessel are used by the Steam- ship Authority and two private carriers serving the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket from Hyannis and New Bedford. These vessels are built by Du- clos Corporation Gladding-Hearn Ship- yard in Somerset, Massachusetts.

37 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

Commuter ferry service Ferry services for daily commuters to Boston have been running for many years from Hingham, Hull and Scituate. Some might ask if a commuter run from Buzzards Bay would be feasible. While it could be done, the cost of operating a high-speed vessel, along with the uncertainties caused by weather and sea conditions, make it unlikely that such a service could compete with existing bus and commuter rail connections. Like the island ferry services, a commuter ferry would be of limited value to Buzzards Bay.

Sightseeing ferry service While island ferries and commuter boats may have little to offer Buzzards Bay, sightseeing ferries, such as the Viking canal cruise boat, would offer one more activity to attract visitors to the village. Unlike passengers on island ferries, cruise boat customers are not in a hurry to get to their destinations and are more apt to linger in the area, visiting local restaurants and shops. The Viking generates a surprising amount of economic activity in Onset. Sightseeing ferries such as this could do the same for Buzzards Bay.

Action plan The first step toward luring sightseeing ferry services into Buzzards Bay is to create an easily accessible mooring location, adjacent to parking and out of the canal currents. An exploratory committee might be formed to seek out a mooring spot at existing facilities or to create one in a convenient location. Canal cruises could be coordinated with scenic trains to attract even more visitors than either service could generate on its own.

38 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

PLEASURE BOAT ACCESS

Untapped potential There is a huge untapped market of people with money and the time to spend it who pass by Buzzards Bay by the thousands while sailing their pleasure boats through the canal. Many of these boaters are looking for places to stop and things to do along the way. To tap this market, the village needs to provide some sort of easily accessible mooring facilities next to an inviting attraction such as the town park.

Creating a transient boat basin has turned the fortunes of many waterfront communities. Downtown Annapolis, Maryland, was not an inviting place until the city built a municipal boat basin. Now visitors who drive to Annapolis have to park in remote garages and be shuttled in on buses. Newport, Rhode Island, despite its storied wealth, had a run-down waterfront until it improved its transient pleasure boat facilities. Green- port, New York, took over a run-down waterfront site and built a public boat basin that has turned that village around. Annapolis Boat Basin

Creating a boat basin off the canal will be relatively expensive and will certainly require the full cooperation of the Army Corps of Engineers, which not only controls the canal, but also owns most of the land fronting on the canal. This is not an impossible mission, however, as the Corps is highly responsive to congressional requests and actively encour- ages recreational use of its properties. The payback to the village would come not only in the form of money flowing to local businesses, but also in a new image of the village as a good place to visit and an attractive place to live, work and play.

Once built, a visitor boat basin should be self-supporting through user fees. In order to encourage use by the greatest number of visitors, a mooring fee structure might charge no fee for the first two hours, then levy an increasing fee for each additional hour, with a maximum stay to discourage long-term use. The fee might also change with the seasons. Fees currently charged in Newport, for example, are about one dollar per foot for up to six hours and five dollars a foot for an overnight berth. Limits are imposed during special events. Because much of the cost and difficulty of developing a boat basin will be with the permit process it might be wise to develop as large a basin as possible rather than trying to Newport Boat Basin start small and expand it later.

39 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

Action Plan While it will take more than a few years to bring a boat basin to reality along the canal, village leaders can begin now promoting the concept and initiating talks with the Corps. Support for this plan will be found among the boating community all along the coast and throughout the state. Opposition is likely to be limited. Benefits to the community will be enormous. It will bring income to both the town and the Main Street businesses. It will also change the image of Buzzards Bay in the eyes of many visitors, who might then consider investing in the community.

Financing a boat basin will be a challenge and is likely to come from multiple sources. Village leaders will need to court state and Federal funds, private investment, and any other source that might be identified. This task will take time, dedication and unrelenting effort. Fortunately, the boat owners who are likely to use such a facility often tend to have strong connections with either or both the political and the financial communities, and may be called upon to help with the fundraising efforts.

The 2005 Bridge Park design competition produced more than 200 concept plans for reconstruction of the town park at the base of the railroad bridge. Many of these plans, such as the one shown below, included boat basins. This one, unfortunately, would also destroy the park as a place for special events. There is definite potential for a basin at the east end of the park, though, where this plan shows a parking lot and comfort station.

Of all the choices available for revitalization of Main Street, a well-designed pleasure boat basin virtually guarantees success. This action would complement the work of the National Marine Life Center and the special events held in the park. It would provide new customers for local businesses, and would not conflict with other attractions such as tourist rail trips. It would also attract related private development into the village.

40 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE ACCESS

Existing pedestrian conditions Pedestrian access within and through Buzzards Bay is actually quite good. Most streets have adequate sidewalks or low enough traffic levels to allow reasonably safe walking on the street. Three traffic control lights with pedestrian signals and an underpass between the Community Center and Armory enable crossing of the bypass. More than half the length of Main Street has been upgraded with new sidewalks, street trees and brick bump-outs to define parking and crossing areas.

Areas that need improvement are the two traffic circles, which pose an even greater impediment to pedestrians than they do to vehicles entering or leaving the village. Side- walks around the circles are mostly non-existent, except on the south side of Main Street along Belmont Circle, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street or through parking lots. There is no safe way for Pedestrians to cross the Route 25 access ramp between Belmont Circle and the Bourne Bridge, even if they manage to get past the circle.

Existing bicycle conditions Despite the existence along the canal of one of the world’s most scenic, accessible and highly used bicycle paths, bicycle travel within and through Buzzards Bay is dangerous and difficult. Neither Main Street nor the bypass is safe for cycling; the bypass because of the absence of break-down lanes and the high speeds of vehicles using the road, and Main Street, ironically, because recent sidewalk improvements reduced the width of the travel lanes. Side streets are relatively safe for cycling because of low traffic volumes.

Each year hundreds of cyclists travel through Buzzards Bay on their way to or from the Cape and islands. These tourists face formidable obstacles moving through the village between the Cohasset Narrows Bridge and the Bourne Bridge. The only way to cross the Cohasset Narrows Bridge is to wait for a break in traffic and deliberately pedal in the middle of a lane to block vehicles from passing in that lane. This is a technique widely used by experienced urban cyclists, but risky and dangerous for casual riders. There is a narrow sidewalk on the westbound side, but eastbound riders would have to cross four lanes of busy traffic twice to use it.

Once across Cohasset Narrows, the best way to get through the village on a bicycle is along the canal access road, but many bicycle tourists are not aware of this route and travel down Main Street or the bypass. When they get to Belmont Circle they must again take control of a lane and navigate the extremely dangerous intersection of Main Street with Scenic Highway and the Route 25 ramp. For cyclists who know the route, there is safe access to the Bourne Bridge through the old bridge access road between the outlets and the Salvation Army store, but this route is easy to miss while dodging traffic.

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Pedestrian action plan Extending the Main Street sidewalk improvements all the way to Belmont Circle will give the street a more unified look. Reducing the width of the bypass from four lanes to two will significantly improve the safety of pedestrian crossings, even with the traffic signals. Both Memorial Circle and Belmont Circle need to be reconfigured to allow smoother traffic flow and sidewalks could be installed as part of the reconfiguration. More pedestrian access points are needed between Main Street and the canal access road.

Bicycle action plan There is enough width within the bypass right of way to construct a separate bicycle and pedestrian path for its full length. Construction of such a lane should be a high priority action. If the bypass is reconstructed as a two-lane highway, the bicycle/pedestrian path could be comfortably separated from the vehicle lanes with a landscaped median. Such a lane would be used by both local cyclists and long-distance tourists.

Provisions for bicycles should be designed into the reconfiguration of both Memorial Circle and Belmont Circle. When the Cohasset Narrows Bridge is reconstructed, separate bicycle/pedestrian lanes or sidewalks should be included on both sides of the bridge. When the Route 25 access ramp is reconstructed into four lanes, a bicycle crossing should be included. This could be as simple as a pedestrian light or as complicated as an overpass. The most workable solution might be an underpass similar to the ones under the bypass and the Cape Cod Rail Trail passage under Route 6A in Harwich.

The quickest, easiest and least expensive way to improve bicycle passage within and through the village is with signage. Signs should designate not only bike routes, but also access points to the canal access road and the Bourne Bridge.

Pedestrian and bicycle access path to the Bourne Bridge

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Canal crossings Estimates of the number of people who visit the Cape Cod Canal each year run as high as four million. This number includes all those who stop to look from a scenic overlook, ride through on boats, and walk, skate or bicycle along the seven mile long access roads that line the canal on both sides. The number of people using these access roads ranges from a few hardy souls in the winter to several thousand a day during the summer. Many begin and end their walks or bike rides at the foot of the railroad bridge in Buzzards Bay.

The only way to get across the canal in order to walk or pedal both sides is by crossing either the Bourne or the Sagamore Bridges. Few people do this because it is difficult to find the access points and not an especially pleasant crossing on foot or by bicycle. Two answers to this problem that have been suggested are letting pedestrians cross the railroad bridge when it is down and providing a water taxi service across the canal during the summer months. Neither of these options has strong support in Buzzards Bay.

Other than the obvious safety concerns, crossing the railroad bridge on foot has other serious drawbacks. It could only happen during the two or three times a day that the bridge is lowered for trains and, since canal navigation cannot be blocked for extended periods, potential bridge crossers would have to be present during a very narrow window of opportunity. Even if visitors managed to get across the bridge one way, they would likely have to use one of the road bridges to get back. Factoring in the cost of modifying the bridge and the limited number of persons who could take advantage of using it, it appears that this idea is not likely to become a reality. The concept of a seasonal water taxi might be possible, however.

The water taxis could be relatively small open vessels, but with sufficient power to cope with canal currents. One boat would operate in the vicinity of the railroad bridge and a second boat would operate at the other end of the canal, near the Sagamore Bridge, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to travel along one side of the canal then return on the other side. The operators would have to be properly licensed by the Coast Guard to carry passengers. Although the licensing standards for carrying six or fewer passengers are lighter than for other vessels, this might pose a problem in recruiting seasonal operators. In summary, it appears that pedestrians and bicyclists will continue to use the road bridges or stay on one side of the canal for their visit. (University of Pennsylvania student photograph)

43 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

PARKING

Existing conditions Most of the time there is ample parking in Buzzards Bay within a few steps of any destination. Parking along public streets is free and open to residents and visitors alike. Many businesses have off-street lots. The Army Corps of Engineers maintains an unpaved lot at the railroad bridge for visitors to the canal access road, and the town maintains an abutting lot at the railroad station for visitors to the town park. There is a need, however, for additional parking at times of special events such as the Scallop Festival, and there will be a need for more parking if commuter rail or intercity bus service returns to the village.

Commuter parking An essential element in the revitalization of Buzzards Bay is establishing an intercity bus terminal in the village. For logistical reasons described in the section of this plan on Intercity Bus Service, the bus terminal needs to be located at the Route 25 access ramp, where parking is now limited to private lots around existing businesses. A commuter lot serving the bus terminal could be constructed in the center of Belmont Circle as shown in the drawing on Page 29. A 170-car lot would provide four times as many commuter spaces as are available at the Tedeschi Market where the buses now stop.

If commuter rail service is extended to Buzzards Bay, the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization estimates that 1200 parking spaces will be needed at the Buzzards Bay station. Providing this many spaces at this location without destroying the town park or limiting access to the canal will be a major challenge. The MPO report estimates that this number of spaces will require eight acres of land for on-grade parking or three acres for a four-level parking structure.

Since parking can be built within a flood plain, and since all of the area around the rail station lies within a velocity flood zone, it might be feasible to build a parking structure across a broad area that would raise the business district, and even the town park, out of the flood zone. This would obviously be an expensive undertaking, but would solve several problems at once. A more practical solution for railroad commuter parking might be a parking structure built opposite the railroad station in the Taylor Road area off Acad- emy Drive between the Corps of Engineers facilities and the town marina.

Main Street parking Long before commuter rail is extended to Buzzards Bay, the western end of Main Street will need additional parking if it is to become a prominent destination for residents and visitors. Parking is needed for special events and non-commuter railroad attractions; the Maritime Academy needs additional parking for its cadets; and some form of structured parking is likely to be needed if the village center is to be redeveloped at higher densities in order to make it a more vibrant place to live, work and play.

The current cost of structured parking generally falls in the range of $30,000 to $40,000 per space, depending on the size, design and type of construction. The Boston MPO re-

44 BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

port on commuter rail estimated a cost of $35 million for a parking structure in Buzzards Bay. Since it is not likely that the Town of Bourne would be able to afford this expense, other sources of financing will be needed. The most promising avenue for village leaders to pursue might be some form of public/private partnership involving state and local gov- ernments, the Maritime Academy and private developers.

A parking facility at the west end of Main Street could serve several complementary uses. During the summer months, it would provide parking for daily visitors and special events; in the off-season, it would provide parking for Maritime Academy cadets during the week and special events on the weekends; and at all times would provide parking for village residents, shoppers and other visitors.

This cross-section sketch shows one way that the area between Main Street and Cohasset Avenue could be privately developed in a manner that serves both private and public parking needs, while also providing new commercial space for restaurants, stores and offices above the flood plain, and premium housing with spectacular views across the bay.

In this concept, existing shops would remain along Main Street, with service access in the rear. A two- to four-level parking structure would then be built across the remaining land. Business bays or free-standing structures might front on Cohasset Avenue. On top of the second parking level, there would be a pedestrian plaza with shops and restaurants. The next level would be offices and a lobby, with residences on the upper levels. Most of this structure would be hidden from view of pedestrians on Main Street. The parking garage could provide 400 to 1200 spaces, depending on its width.

Non-commuter park and ride A third type of parking lot that the village might consider building would be a ride sharing lot, other than the commuter lots associated with bus and train stations, that would serve people who want to leave a vehicle for a day or longer while sharing rides with others. These people now leave their cars in commuter lots or store lots, taking spaces that might better be used by commuters or customers. As the cost of automobile travel becomes increasingly expensive, ride sharing is likely to also increase.

One possible location for a ride sharing lot would be within the bypass right-of-way in the vicinity of the National Guard Armory. This location is easily accessible from all directions, and would be especially appropriate if it were constructed as part of a new public safety complex combining Bourne police and fire department headquarters at the armory location. There is adequate room within the right-of-way at this location even if the bypass is not reduced in width as suggested in this plan.

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COHASSET NARROWS BRIDGE

Current situation The first bridge across Cohasset Narrows connecting Wareham to Bourne was built in 1850 and reconstructed in 1900. The current bridge, now named after the late Bourne resident and highway engineer William Dalton, is a concrete T-beam structure built in 1921 and reconstructed in 1935. It has structurally deteriorated, although still rated for unlimited loads, and is of inadequate width by current design standards.

Cohasset Narrows Bridge looking west.

The Massachusetts Highway Department is planning to replace the bridge during the winter of 2009-2010. Estimated construction cost is $12.2 million, to be funded through the 2010 Transportation Improvement Program for the Southeastern Massachusetts Metro- politan Planning Organization. The design contract was awarded to a consultant in July 2003 and design review comments completed in January 2006.

Potential problems If a temporary bridge is erected to carry traffic while the new bridge is being constructed, there should be only a slight decrease in traffic levels. If the road is closed during construction, traffic through Buzzards Bay is liable to drop dramatically. This could have a significant negative effect on Main Street businesses. Some traffic will be diverted to Head of the Bay Road. Because of the length of time to travel this route, however, drivers who normally use Main Street or the bypass to get to Onset and South Wareham shopping areas, are more likely to use Route 25.

Action plan Village leaders should continue to monitor plans for replacement of this bridge, and to keep pressure on Massachusetts Highway Department officials to assure that there will be no disruption of traffic flow between Wareham and Buzzards Bay on this route.

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SUMMARY PLAN

Three top priority actions As this plan was unfolding, three actions emerged as likely to be highly effective at re- energizing and vitalizing the Main Street business district of Buzzards Bay as a year- round destination for local residents and visitors. These actions are bringing back tourist rail operations, reconfiguring the roads leading into and around the village and building a pleasure boat basin on the canal. ¾ Tourist trains, including dinner trains, scenic tours and special event trains, would draw visitors into the village year-round. Cape Cod Railroad is ready to move its operations from Hyannis to Buzzards Bay if it can acquire access to the tracks. This is a political problem that would not involve any cost to the village or the town. Action needs to be taken immediately, however, as the state is currently renegotiating its lease of the tracks with Bay Colony Railroad. ¾ Reconfiguring roads around the village will take longer, as it would require state investment in the changes. While each element of these changes could be done independently, it would make sense to combine them into one project. The cost would not be huge, nor would it be insignificant – probably several million dollars. The work would include eliminating Memorial Circle and Belmont Circle; widening the Route 25 access ramps and bringing them straight to a traffic light at Main Street/Scenic Highway; reducing the bypass to two travel lanes; and constructing a bicycle path the length of the bypass, with a pedestrian underpass crossing the Route 25 ramp. ¾ A pleasure boat basin on the canal will be the most expensive and time- consuming of these three top priority actions, but will pay back its investment many times by making Buzzards Bay accessible to the thousands of boaters who pass through the canal on their way to somewhere else.

Other important actions Other actions suggested in this plan include the following, which are not necessarily listed in order of priority. ¾ Extend Main Street sidewalk improvements to Belmont Circle ¾ Build a commuter parking lot and inter-city bus stop in Belmont Circle ¾ Support and promote the OWL bus and B-bus services ¾ Attract a canal tour boat to Buzzards Bay ¾ Improve signage for bicycles directing them to safe routes ¾ Work in partnership with developers to build parking facilities ¾ Build a ride-share parking lot on the bypass ¾ Pressure the state highway department on the Cohasset Bridge Replacement

BUZZARDS BAY COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN JUNE 2007

APPENDIX

49 BUZZARDS BAY VILLAGE ASSOCIATION COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN OPINION SURVEY

For each transportation planning issue or idea listed below, please check the box indicating your level of agreement with the statement, its priority for you, and Impor then rank the top six in order of importance to you. Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Have No Opinion Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree High Priority Medium Priority Low Priority Rank tance

Buzzards Bay should be Bourne's downtown center

Routes 6 & 28 should be moved back to Main Street

The Main Street by-pass should be eliminated

The by-pass should be downgraded to a local street

The by-pass should remain as it is

Belmont Circle should be eliminated

Memorial Circle should be eliminated

The Town should build public parking lots on Main Street

A commuter parking lot is needed in Buzzards Bay

There should be an inter-city bus terminal in Buzzards Bay

Commuter rail service should be extended to Buzzards Bay

Amtrak passenger rail service should return to Cape Cod

High-speed ferries should run between B.B. and the islands

Visitor slips should be built for small boats using the canal

Pedestrians should be able to cross the canal on RR bridge

A seasonal water taxi should take pedestrians across canal

More tourist-related business should be encouraged in B.B.

More events like the Scallop Festival should be held in B.B.

The Town Park should be an international tourist attraction ou! I live in Buzzards Bay Thank y I work in Buzzards Bay I own a business in Buzzards Bay (Please use other side for your comments and suggestions) BUZZARDS BAY VILLAGE ASSOCIATION COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN OPINION SURVEY RESULTS - December 13, 2006 Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Have No Opinion Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree High Priority Medium Priority Low Priority Rank Importance

Buzzards Bay should be Bourne's downtown center 36 7011 2622 1

Routes 6 & 28 should be moved back to Main Street 12 11 2 6 8 8 6 8 14

The Main Street by-pass should be eliminated 14 7 1 11 10 7 5 12 16

The by-pass should be downgraded to a local street 972715 7411 19

The by-pass should remain as it is 12 5 2 6 17 6 6 7 17

Belmont Circle should be eliminated 12 11 6 7 4 8 5 10 13

Memorial Circle should be eliminated 12 9766 787 12

The Town should build public parking lots on Main Street 19 12 1 2 7 17 5 3 11

A commuter parking lot is needed in Buzzards Bay 21 11 5 2 2 12 6 4 9

There should be an inter-city bus terminal in Buzzards Bay 22 18 3 1 0 13 14 2 5

Commuter rail service should be extended to Buzzards Bay 32 8120 1663 6

Amtrak passenger rail service should return to Cape Cod 26 11 2 3 2 11 12 1 7

High-speed ferries should run between B.B. and the islands 20 12 4 6 2 9 3 13 10

Visitor slips should be built for small boats using the canal 17 16 5 4 0 8 9 8 8

Pedestrians should be able to cross the canal on RR bridge 888415 0316 18

A seasonal water taxi should take pedestrians across canal 12 10 8 2 10 2 6 15 15

More tourist-related business should be encouraged in B.B. 30 13 3 0 2 22 5 1 2

More events like the Scallop Festival should be held in B.B. 31 11 2 1 0 17 6 1 3

The Town Park should be an international tourist attraction 29 13 3 1 1 17 7 1 4

I live in Buzzards Bay 14 I work in Buzzards Bay 16 I own a business in Buzzards Bay 14