Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $20,000 contract to purchase the materials needed to finish the first phase of sidewalk “bump-outs” on Elm Street.
A bump-out will go in here in front of Dolcé on Elm, pictured on Feb. 8, 2023. Credit: Michael Dinan
As it is, the sidewalk has been widened on the north side of Elm Street from the Ralph Lauren store to Le Pain Quotidien. The project calls for that bump-out to be extended to the area out in front of The Playhouse, Public Works Director Tiger Mann said during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting.
“We’ll finish that once The Playhouse construction is done in front and then we’re going to jump to the opposite side,” he said during the selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And that is where the savings are in parking spaces. We gain spaces back by putting in bump-outs on that side.”
The bump-out on Elm Street will be extended past LPQ and in front of the Playhouse, pictured here on Feb. 8, 2023. Credit: Michael Dinan
Discussed public since April 2021, plans call for the bump-outs on the northern side of Elm from the South Avenue crosswalk to The Playhouse, and on the southern side of Elm in three areas: In front of Dolcé and on the southeastern and southeastern corners of Elm and South, where Dunkin Donuts is moving (see graphic above).
The plan leverages the difference in curb length needed for a parallel parking space versus an angled one in order to pick up five spots on the south side of Elm while losing the same number on the northern side. That’s accomplished, in part, by eliminating the need for a 25-foot “no parking” zone at either end of pedestrian crosswalks by installing bump-outs that effectively shorten the crosswalks so they no longer are subject to the 25-foot requirement.
The bump-outs on Elm Street eventually could extend up past the Playhouse to the alley in front of Chef Luis. Credit: Michael Dinan
The materials purchased also will allow the town to redo a sidewalk on the south side of Elm Street between Park Street and the entrance to the train station, Mann said. (It currently is bituminous concrete.)
“The reason we are bringing it to you is because last year bridging to you is because last year all the granite companies basically maxed out on their production and they said get your orders in early,” Mann said.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the $19,943.75 contract with Williams Stone for granite curbing needed for the installations.
The bump-outs on Elm Street also could be extended east of Elm and South, down to Rosie. Credit: Michael Dinan
Town officials also have looked at the possibility of extending the bump-outs further on the northern side of Elm—from in front of Rosie up through the Adirondack Store, and past the Playhouse to Chef Luis.
The selectmen asked Mann during the meeting what the sidewalk on the opposite side of Elm at the train station is composed of (granite and brick), whether the work on the southern side of Elm there will make the two match (yes), whether the curbing planned for the projects is “rounded” (no but the snow plow will fix that), whether the town or state owns the pocket park located near the train station (don’t know) and when the fence there will be repaired (during the project, an ornamental metal fence will be installed).
Elm Street is more walkable, more friendly and more vibrant with bump-outs, and more bump-outs will make it better. Forest Street came alive when the sidewalk was widened on the west side. Let’s keep adding pedestrian and dining space. Many European cities and Burlington, Vermont have main streets with NO VEHICLES, and they are all vibrant. Walking is good; vehicles pollute; let’s walk more and dine outdoors more.