Town officials on Wednesday approved the installation of new concrete “planter” barricades for outdoor dining for the upcoming season.
The Police Commission voted 3-0 during its regular meeting to allow for the barricades to be put in place from April 1 to Oct. 31.
They’ll be placed on either side of the sidewalk “bumpouts” on the northern side of Elm Street, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
They will be “in the area from, say, in front of Rosie’s and then the area from Solé from the Playhouse westward past Chef Luis,” Mann told the Commission at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.
The effect will be “similar to what we’ve done” in the past, he said, though with fewer barricades since the northern side of Elm Street has already had some bumpouts installed, meaning the sidewalk is already sufficiently wide to allow for an ADA-compliant pedestrian lane as well as extra room for outdoor tables.
The look will be similar to last year though “the only difference is that we now have concrete barricades,” Mann said.
“They’re planters,” he said. “And we’ll use those in lieu of the white barricades. And we’ve spoken to the Beautification League. They have the specifications for the planters and the size, and they will be planting them at our request. And we’re allowing them their own license as to how they would like to see them planted. But I imagine that they will match the hanging baskets that they are so graciously nice to put out throughout town. So I think it’ll be a nice cohesive look.”
Commission Chair Paul Foley, Secretary Shekaiba Bennett and member Jim McLaughlin voted in favor of the allowance. Approvals also are needed from the Planning & Zoning Commission.
The new barriers are a lighter gray in color with “a little textured feel to them,” Mann said, “and then the entire top is a planter.”
“And when our staff come by and water the baskets, we’ll water the planters as well,” he said. “So they should be well maintained throughout the season. And we think it will be a nice add to the downtown.”
Commissioners asked whether the long-term plan for the bumpouts will mean the sidewalk will be wider in front of retail spaces that are not restaurants (no, the goal is to preserve the parallel parking spaces on the northern side of Elm as much as possible) and whether P&Z has approved outdoor dining (yes and they’re expected to approve use of the paved area pending the Police Commission’s approval).
Foley asked about the status of work that Eversource is doing downtown.
Mann said that the company now is working on Park Street and will be there for a couple more weeks, and that transformer work on Elm Street “should be done hopefully midsummer.”
“And then we’re looking to come in and do the hardscape on the southern side and then repave the entire road, including the decorative crosswalks, hopefully before the close of summer,” he said. “The paving itself would be done at night. The decorative crosswalks would likely be done during the day, but the paving itself would be done at night. We paved Elm Street almost 10 years ago to the day and we did it at night and there were very few complaints. We milled it one day, paved it the next. There were very few complaints overall, we didn’t disturb any of the businesses.”