WINCHESTER — With a public information meeting in Town Hall on Wednesday night, the planned Tri-Community Bikeway/Greenway entered its public outreach stage. Ahead lie the goals of completing the 75% design plans during the winter of 2009 and construction in 2010.

As Town Manager Mel Kleckner sated at the outset, the purpose of the meeting was to provide information and begin to gather public input, not make any decisions.

Jamie Fosburgh, chairman of the Winchester Greenway Committee, reviewed the history of the project, which began as a grass-roots effort in the 1990s, and the goal of linking parks, fields, schools, commercial districts, and train stations while providing off-road opportunities for non-motorized access and activities.

Though the selectmen formed the Greenway Committee and the first grant funding was awarded back in 1998, the project was put on hold, Fosburgh said, for a variety of reasons, including issues with funding and issues within other communities.

The project is fully funded by the state and federal governments through the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The approximate cost of the design is $785,000 with construction estimated at $4.5 million. Funding for construction, Fosburgh said, is programmed in the TIP for fiscal 2011.

The preliminary design has been worked out among Winchester, Woburn, and Stoneham with the assistance of a working group composed of technical staff and citizen representatives from the three communities and the engineering firm of Fay, Spofford & Thorndike (FST). Meetings have been held with town boards and commissions for their input.

It is now time for public input. In addition to the meeting just past, there are to be continued meetings with boards and committees, as well as a 25% design public hearing in September.

The main feature of the information meeting was the design of the route, described by Jennifer Shemowat and illustrated with maps outlined on aerial photographs and with street-level photographs of preferred and alternate sites for the pathway.

The greenway is a shared-use pathway rather than a bikeway, as required to qualify for the funding. It will generally be 10-feet wide with a 2- to 3-foot shoulder on each side. If 10 feet is not feasible, the path may be 8 feet wide. Standard signs would be posted at all intersections stating what types of uses are allowed.

Route

Starting from the south end, the greenway goes from the Wedgemere Station across Bacon Street, along the side of Ginn Field, and up the access road and parking lot to Waterfield Road. While the preferred route goes parallel to the railroad, an alternate route is along the parkway.

Problems areas were identified as the Bacon Street crossing and Waterfield Bridge. At the historic 1915 bridge, riders would have to dismount and walk bikes.

In the center of town, the preferred route goes around the east side of Mill Pond and behind the library. Some regrading would be required to eliminate the steps in the existing path, which reportedly would not affect the mature willow trees.

Another possibility is to go on the west side of the pond, which might involve the loss of some trees and the construction of a retaining wall. A third possibility is to use Converse Place, whose difficulties include insufficient right of way to widen the sidewalk, narrow lanes for two-way traffic, loss of parking spots, and the riskiness of bike traffic next to parked cars.

Two routes lead away from Skillings Road, the Horn Pond spur which generally follows the existing bike route, and the path going up to the Muraco School. The preferred route for the latter had been to follow the river; however, as the property just above Swanton Street is privately owned and as there is insufficient clearance to enlarge the culvert where the river crosses under the railroad, the route now goes on-road over Holland and Florence streets to Muraco.

After passing Muraco, the route again follows the river until it gets to Washington Street. The preferred route had been to continue following the river into Woburn; however, that requires consent from Kraft Foods which owns the property beyond the Washington Street Park.

Although Kraft was reportedly agreeable originally, after 9/11 it changed its decision. According to John Hendrickson of FST, this was due to the route passing through well fields and to not wanting people in back of the facility.

Public favor for approaching Kraft again was expressed, including a query from a representative of Senator Jehlen's office.

The alternative route goes up the west side of Washington Street and goes on-road on D Street and Central Street. A third alternative is to go through Calvary Cemetery; however, the archdiocese has not been approached about that idea.

Questions from the public seeking a comparison with the Minuteman and Bikeway revealed that as Minuteman was laid out along an old railroad bed it is straighter and more easily laid out. The Winchester route, going through historic and sensitive areas, would not lend itself to the same degree of high-speed biking.

A question about how informed the design has been by traffic and safety studies drew the answer that MassHighway has a safety department which reviews the plans and has done traffic studies and counts.

A Woburn resident said Woburn had been interested in connecting Woburn and Winchester centers and was disappointed that private development prevented a straight path between the two town centers along the old Woburn Loop railroad bed. He said there has to be more communication and cooperation among the towns.

To a question of whether the connection to Stoneham would be used, Betsy Cregger, the Planning Board's representative to the Greenway Committee, said it was hard to predict, but "if you build it they will come."

To the question of funding any necessary post-construction fixes, the answer was that maintenance was not part of the budget but the town could apply for safety-related funding. Regarding liability in case of an accident, Cregger said she assumed it would be the same as with sidewalks.

Asked about the effect or impact of the flood mitigation project below Waterfield Bridge, Cregger said the team is working closely with the town engineers.

Following the question and answer period, the public was invited to visit three tables along the sides of the room, each of which focused on one of the three major segments of the route, and discuss more details of the routes.

Anyone who missed the recent meeting may reportedly view the materials on the Town Web site and may send input to Assistant Town Engineer Beth Rudolph by an e-mail to brudolph@winchester.us or by mail to Town Hall.

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