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MassHighway lists five-step process for new task force
By PATRICK BLAIS news@woburnonline.com

STONEHAM - Members of the newly formed I-93/I-95 task force met for the first time last night at Stoneham's Senior Center outlining the five-step process the advisory board will utilize in making its recommendation.

MassHighway's Ken Miller and Bob Frey outlined the five-step process to the task force, including residents and officials from Woburn, Reading and Stoneham, which will explore a plethora of long and short-term options for the I-93/I-95 interchange.

Later, the board made its first two decisions, voting to allow Woburn Mayor John Curran to add another member (a representative of the City Council) to the task force and also deciding to hire a contractor outside of MassHighway's pre-approved listing.

The task force was formed after citizens created an uproar on finding that MassHighway was exploring plans for renovation and expansion of the highways' interchange that involved extensive land-takings and local communities were not involved in the planning.

Initially proposing a plan that could seize up to 100 houses and businesses from the local communities, the first feasibility study later developed other alternatives that would decrease the number of properties involved to around 30.

However, that feasibility study was cancelled in September by Mass Highway Commissioner John Cogliano after the public continued to show its disapproval of the project.

The task force, which could meet for up to one year, will follow a five-step process in making its recommendations to MassHighway.

- The first step will be to clearly define the goals and objectives of the project, create evaluation criteria for any alternative discussed, and also establish a public participation plan.

- The second step will examine the current conditions of the highway and explore the nature of the problems, which were previously defined in the first feasibility study as safety and congestion concerns.

- In the third step, the task force will consider any alternatives they please, including the possibilities of a transit system solution, or even the possibility of doing nothing to the current interchange.

- In the fourth step, the task force will analyze the proposed alternatives, weighing both the positive and negative consequences of any recommendation. The committee will then rank each alternative considered.

- Lastly, in the fifth step, the committee will submit its recommendations to MassHighway.

From the onset of last night's meeting, MassHighway acting director Ken Miller made it clear that the new task force in place would now have complete control over the pre-planning process, and could explore any alternative they saw fit.

"Because of the concerns expressed by the public, not only in our products but in our conduct ... the commissioner decided to suspend the study and to try to take a fresh look at the issue. We won't do anything without speaking to you first," said Miller.

Woburn Mayor John Curran also expressed his hopes that the representatives from the communities work together.

"I thought this was a positive meeting. This was an easy meeting I think, but I'm happy they've increased participation for the three communities. I think we can have more of an impact if all communities work in unison ... It has value if the communities hang tough and work for the same goals," said Curran.

Curran said the city now has four seats on the task force and noted they were being given out by category and not by person.

The four seats include the Mayor's office (namely Curran), an engineer (either City Engineer Jay Corey or a representative of the firm VHB which the city has hired as a consultant in this case), the Planning Department (namely director Edmund Tarello), and a City Council member (namely Ward 5 Alderman Paul Medeiros or any other member of the nine-member board of Medeiros can't make it).

Curran said a main concern of his is that the state, when a decision is made, make sure proper studies are given to the impacts on traffic and infrastructure in the three cities and towns impacted. This was something, he said, which was badly lacking in the first go around.

Despite those assurances, Reading Selectman George Hines appealed to the board to move the process along quickly for the sake of residents whose homes are still in limbo.

"It's a truism that people's homes are their biggest investment. When we get to the point of talking about goals I think we should address the property owners so people's minds will be at ease. It really should be one of our primary goals," said Hines.

Hines also spoke out as the task force prepared to vote on its first issue, the hiring of a contractor to assess the process. Given the choice between choosing a pre-approved contractor from MassHighway or opting to seek out the task force's own contractor, Hines reminded the board that trust between the task force and MassHighway was still strained.

"Because of the way the process unfolded before, and I mean no offense to the present company, I think trust is something that is going to have to be built up," said Hines before the task force voted to seek out its own contractor.

Despite Hines' comments during the meeting, he later expressed his satisfaction with MassHighway's decision to involve the communities in the pre-planning process. However, he did implore members of the task force to move the process along as quickly as possible to quell the concerns of homeowners.

"My only concern is that we're dragging this out. People wanting to improve their homes or even sell their homes at market value in the last year haven't been able to do it. But I am satisfied with this task force thus far," said Hines following the meeting.

Hines was not alone in expressing concerns about the workings of the task force.

Though the task force did not set an exact date for its next meeting, it plans to next meet sometime in mid-January.

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