BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY CITY OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS PREPARED BY: 226 Causeway Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02114-2155 US JUNE 26 2018 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION PART 1 - CORRIDOR CONTEXT ONGOING PLANNING CHARACTER AREAS PART 2 - KEY FINDINGS MODE SHARE SAFETY EVALUATION TRAFFIC ANALYSIS OUTREACH PART 3 – CONCEPT DESIGN CORRIDOR-WIDE IMPROVEMENTS CHARACTER AREA IMPROVEMENTS PART 4- IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TECHNICAL APPENDIX ROAD SAFETY AUDIT (RSA) FINAL REPORT TRAFFIC ANALYSIS MEMO ENVIRONMENTAL SCREENING MEMO PAVEMENT INVESTIGATION MEMO PRELIMINARY ROW EVALUATION MEMO CONSTRUCTION COST ESTIMATE MEMO Executive Summary BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WHY STUDY THE • Truck traffic is 3 to 5 times higher than hour and by 17 to 20% during the evening BEACHAM/WILLIAMS similar regional facilities peak hour over the next 5 years • Approximately 50 to 115 trucks travel the • There is no transit along the corridor STREET CORRIDOR? corridor per hour during daytime hours despite the fact that one-third of Chelsea The Beacham/Williams Street corridor has • Five locations in the top 5% of crash residents rely on public transit to get to long been a primarily industrial roadway, clusters within the Metropolitan Area work though one that serves critical regional Planning Council’s 101 city and town • Most direct route for bicyclists travelling functions. Used by truckers serving the region between points east and downtown produce markets, hazardous cargo prohibited • Traffic volumes are anticipated to increase Boston from bridges and tunnels, and cab drivers by 9 to 13% during the morning peak and cheap drivers seeking to avoid tolls and traffic, this connection often operates like a local secret. With the Wynn Boston Harbor Casino, growing regional congestion, development pressure and demand for multiple connections – the secret is out – and Chelsea, Everett, and MassDOT must develop an appropriate response for this corridor to serve the future being created around it. TRANSIT SERVICE GAP STUDY AREA MBTA Transit Gap along Corridor i Executive Summary BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY HOW DOES THE Character Area A: Regional Industry (Everett City Line to Mulberry Street) transects an industrial area with a high concentration of produce production and distribution facilities and CORRIDOR FUNCTION other industrial uses that support the local and regional economy. Access points to abutting TODAY? industrial properties are poorly defined, some spanning the entire property frontage. Market Street and Spruce Street are both high crash intersections. There are no sidewalks west of the Today, the corridor prioritizes vehicular and Spruce Street intersection. freight movement, with few accommodations for people travelling by bike, on foot, or Character Area B: Industrial & Residential Transition Zone (Mulberry Street to Chestnut by transit. The physical condition, overall Street) serves as a transition zone between the industrial section of Area A and commercial layout, and lack of consistent pavement area of downtown, and includes a cluster of multi-family residential properties with on-street markings are a detriment to travel and an parking. This area experiences the second highest volume of through truck/freight traffic, as ongoing safety issue. Therefore, it is not drivers use this section to access the Tobin Bridge southbou. surprising that the corridor experiences a Character Area C: Downtown Hub (Chestnut Street to Winnisimmet Street) transects a high number of vehicular crashes, including mix of small commercial businesses that function as an extension of the downtown Broadway pedestrian/bicycle crashes and injury crashes. corridor. This is also where traffic can exit Route 1 northbound from the Tobin Bridge. While there are clearly overarching condition Within this short section, there are seven intersecting streets, three of which are signalized. and safety issues, there are also unique issues Chestnut Street and Broadway are both high crash intersections. There are particularly high associated with the various contextual setting pedestrian volumes at the Broadway intersection. through which the corridor passes. The Character Area D: Mixed Use Zone (Winnisimmet Street to Pearl Street) includes a mix of uniqueness of each contextual setting, or small scale commercial, residential, and industrial land uses on the approach to Pearl Street at “character area,” is defined by the abutting the Andrew P. McArdle Bridge. The right turn lane on the westbound approach to Pearl Street land uses and associated multimodal needs. makes the roadway feel narrow. Traffic snarls in this area when the drawbridge is raised. Pearl Street is also a high crash intersection. A B C D Pedestrians walking through indus- Traffic queue heading into Williams Bicyclists navigating through busy Traffic encroaching onto trial area west of Spruce St St and Chestnut St Broadway and Park St intersection roadway shoulders at Pearl Street intersections BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY Executive Summary ii Character Areas INDUSTRIAL & RESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ZONE MIXED USE ZONE REGIONAL INDUSTRY DOWNTOWN HUB 2ND STREET High Crash Locations C H E L S E A SPRUCE STREET I STREET MARKET BEACHAM STREET PARK STREET WILLIAMS STREET CHESTNUT STREET ARLINGTON STREET BROADWAY CHERRY STREET PEARL STREET PEARL WAY STREET WINNISIMMET COMMANDANTS BEACON STREET E V E R E T T MULBERRY STREET 0 500 1,000 Feet Signalized Intersections Stop Controlled Intersections Island End River HSIP High Crash Location HSIP Pedestrian Cluster ANDREW P. MCARDLE BRIDGE *HSIP = Highway Safety 1 BROADWAY Improvement Program iii Executive Summary BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY Chelsea Creek Mystic River Level of Service Criteria for Signalized Intersections LOS Average Delay Motorist Perception (sec/veh) WHAT WE RECOMMEND Operationally, the corridor generally A < 10 Free flow traffic: operates within capacity today and in the “Good” LOS The recommendations for the Beacham/ future year 2022. Corridor operations, B 10 - 20 Reasonable free- Williams Street corridor are as much about especially during the morning, are currently flow upgrading the corridor, as they are about dominated by queueing from the Beacham C 20 - 35 Stable but addressing safety issues, accommodating Street/Broadway intersection in Everett. unreasonable delay multiple users, and supporting regional With future development including traffic begins to occur connections while preserving site-specific from the Encore Boston Harbor Casino, D 35 - 55 Borderline “bad” operations. The good news is that it is queueing will continue at this intersection LOS possible to accomplish each of these unless significant changes are made along E 55 - 80 “Bad” LOS: long objectives without making the corridor seem the Chelsea or Everett sections of Beacham queues incongruous. To do so, concept designs were Street. F > 80 May be catered to the challenges and opportunities in unacceptable: high each character area while still allowing for a An analysis of the Chelsea section of delay, congestion consistent roadway cross section. corridor shows generally that additional Source : Highway Capacity Manual 2000 lanes are not needed to improve corridor LOS at Key Corridor Intersections Corridor wide improvements consist of operations. Rather, it is recommended Intersection Today 2022 Future full depth roadway reconstruction, 11-foot that signal improvements be made at the Build travel lanes with shoulders, continuous Spruce Street, Chestnut Street, and Pearl AM PM AM PM sidewalks, upgraded and coordinated Street intersections. Coordination among Beacham St a& Riley CCCC traffic control signal systems, high-visibility the traffic signals and adaptive traffic Way pavement markings and signage, and LED control systems should also be deployed to Beach St & Market St F D F E street lighting. These improvements will maximize throughput along the corridor Williams St & Spruce St C C C C address the common safety issues along the and continually monitor and respond to Williams St & Arlington CCCC corridor. The primary difference between traffic delays and queues. A left turn lane is St each character area concept is the type of recommended along Beacham Street west to Williams St & Chestnut CCCC proposed bicycle facility – shared use path, Spruce Street. St separated bike lane, or shared lane – and Williams St & Broadway BBBC other improvements specific to abutting land With the recommended changes, operations Williams St & CDCD uses. along the corridor will generally operate at Winnisimmet St an acceptable level of service. Williams St & Pearl St C C C C BEACHAM/WILLIAMS STREET CORRIDOR STUDY Executive Summary iv RECOMMENDED program. Outreach efforts included COMMON SAFETY ISSUES ADDRESSED meetings with City staff, joint meetings AS PART OF THE IMPROVEMENTS: IMPROVEMENTS BY with the City of Everett, two meetings CHARACTER AREA • Lack of dedicated bicycle facilities with abutting commercial and industrial requires sharing lanes alongside trucks The recommendations were based on the businesses in September 2017 along the study series of technical and qualitative evaluations corridor, and an October 2017 open house • Pedestrian confusion due to outdated performed as part of the study, and the input for the public at City Hall. pedestrian signal buttons and a lack of provided by the City, abutters, and the public. countdown pedestrian displays