Help Holliston be a more walkable, bikeable, safe, and enjoyable place by participating in our Wikimap survey!
The Town has partnered with Green International Affiliates to develop a Complete Streets Prioritization Plan with funding from the MassDOT grant program. Complete Streets are designed to integrate the needs of all users – pedestrians, cars, trucks, freight, cyclists, transit riders, people with disabilities – with a priority on safety and usability, within the context and constraints of the roadway.
To view or contribute detail about trouble spots or ideas to the Holliston Complete Streets Wikimap and make the streets or intersections safer, click on the link below the map:
Types of projects we need to prioritize include but are not limited to: bike lanes, safer street crossings, signage, traffic calming measures, ADA accessible curb ramps, speed feedback signs, and sidewalks. This mapping project will help the Town learn more about trouble spots, areas for improvement, and any ideas that you may have. Without your input we won’t know where we need to make these improvements, so please add in your thoughts and ideas! The more people we get to contribute the better the results will be. You can also visit the Town’s website to learn more about this project. https://www.townofholliston.us/home/news/front-street-changed-to-one-way
While this project seems like a great thing and I am all for making the town less dependent on cars, there are some things we could do to be more walkable in the winter that would not take any major overhauls of infrastructure. After last week’s snow storm the sidewalk on Hollis Street coming down from the High School toward downtown was an icy mess. I found myself and observed others walking in the street because it was treated and safer to walk on despite the threat from cars. Downtown was not much better for the first few days after the storm with incredibly icy sidewalks. I also did not understand why the sidewalk on the eastbound side of Washington Street was only cleared a certain distance past downtown. Not realizing that it would suddenly stop, my son and I were walking along it. We were forced to cross over a very busy Route 16 in a random spot to access the sidewalk on the westbound side. I would have appreciated either the entire sidewalk be cleared or none of it be cleared so that we would have known to cross to the other side where there are crosswalks downtown. An easy fix to make the town more “walkable”. As I noted, I am all for a general look at how we can make the town more pedestrian friendly, but it would be nice to start with a look at what we could fix with little investment.
Eastbound on rt 16 the utility pole encroaches on the s/w enough that the plow cannot get by. This has been true since i moved here in ’79.
Pretty exciting project. One thing about the map: if I click on a “point” of issue, I can see the issue category (ped, ada, bike, transit) but I cannot see what the problem is — there are no checked boxes or details in the comment box.
(Maybe I’m doing something wrong or my browser isn’t compatible?)
I came to ask the same question – how do I see what others have contributed – their comments etc…. I can see dozens of points of concern – but just the icon.
A good start for something long, long overdue!!
However there is no mention of the most important part of this project: placing all utilities underground along our major roads (including former state and county roads) and residential feeder streets. Take a look at the Fieldstone Road project off Hollis Street to see how it can be done; even under the most difficult site conditions. All our residential and industrial developments over the last fifty years have met this standard; no reason why the rest of Town can’t do the same.
Funding such work should be a part of our annual budget process; just like schools, water and police; a mile or two per year will do the trick. My final observation: this is the most important factor in making Holliston truly resilient in the face of any threat from nature or misguided humanity.
At the same time, the town should have a sewer system designed and in place. Wherever the water department is laying new water mains they should be laying sewer pipe at the same time. The day will come when Holliston has to have a sewer system. Why not lay those pipes when the roads are open for new water mains? John Losch
John,
As you know we have a sewer design in place and sections have already been installed (cost so far about 5 million in 2002 dollars). Problem is that the discharge pipe has no place to go since DEP decided that we could not move water out of our water shed and now HYSA owns the in-town discharge site. Do you want to be the one who has to tell little Billy that he can’t play soccer there any more?
Then I am right, we do not have a sewer plan in place. Ignoring the first failure is not going to make the problem go away. We need to find another solution to the sewer problem. Whether little Billy can’t play soccer will not much matter when Billy can’t go to the bathroom in Holliston. Paul, test that outhouse you built and see if any upgrades are needed. We are going to need a lot of them.
David,
It may be because the commenter did not select a specific issue beyond clicking ped, transit, etc. at that specific spot?
I think it will be helpful if people provide more specific comments about the ideas and issues they observe.
I added a comment about need to extend sidewalks further East on Central Street and it does appear that detailed comment was added to the map after adding a pin to pin route.
Andrew
Just to close out this little topic: the map does behave on my android phone — finally tried that. Neither firefox nor chrome works on my laptop, but that is a Linux system — so it must be a linux support gap.
Ashland Street sidewalks are not plowed during winter making it very unsafe, since people have to walk on the street. This should be one of the priorities.
John,
You correctly point out that plan with no end point is no plan at all. I’m guessing that we will never have a plan – although outhouses with heated seats might be a start in the right direction.
Ahh! All is not lost. Once again we have a plan. Paul, I knew you would come up with something.
Sidewalk on Winter Street to safely connect the Queens and walking to town or schools!! Would help so many families!