By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — By a narrow 4-3 margin, the Town Council voted this week to preserve all parking along the Main Street side of Lake Quannapowitt. The vote came at the end of a lengthy discussion of the town’s draft “Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.”
The plan called for the removal of parking on Main Street along the Lake in order to create a “shared-use” bicycle and pedestrian path from Lowell Street to Church Street.
Town Engineer William Renault and Economic Development Coordinator Erin Kokinda were on hand to present the latest iteration of the Bike and Pedestrian Plan and to gather feedback from the Council. Renault and Kokinda said that they intend to post an updated draft of the Bike Plan online this week for public comment.
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan was developed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) with input from Renault and Kokinda as well as the “Safe Streets Working Group,” a local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization. Funding was provided by MAPC and the Town of Wakefield.
Even before the issue of Main Street parking came up, elements of the Bike/Pedestrian Pan came under criticism from Town Councilors at this week’s meeting.
Anne Danehy thought the document was “too dense and too bureaucratic.” She suggested providing a more digestible “executive summary.”
Councilor Edward Dombroski said that the plan “seems foisted upon is by the MAPC,” adding that the town seemed to be “losing autonomy” as a result. He observed that the MAPC has an “agenda” to eliminate motor vehicle traffic and prioritize bicycles without even knowing how many bicyclists there are in town.
Renault said that, when it comes to bike lanes, MAPC’s belief is, “If you build it they will come.”
Councilor Julie Smith-Galvin objected to the statement that MAPC is pushing an agenda. She claimed that what is in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan reflects what the community has requested.
Councilor Robert Vincent said that he believed that the town needs Bike and Pedestrian Plan, but found the draft document “ambiguous and confusing.” He also pointed out that the Traffic Advisory Committee has not seen an updated version of the Plan, nor has the Police or Fire Chief.
Town Councilor Michael McLane was also critical of the plan, observing that narrowing the vehicular travel lanes on Main Street along the Lake to 11-12 feet in each direction was too narrow for public safety apparatus like fire engines.
McLane said that Main Street between Lowell and Church streets should not be part of the Bike and Pedestrian Plan and made a motion to remove it from the Plan. He further moved to retain all parking along the Lake and to cancel a planned parking study of the area.
“I don’t think there’s a serious safety issue,” he said. “It’s fine as it is and should be pulled out of the Bike Plan.”
Smith-Galvin disagreed, insisting that the Council should wait to hear more from the community before debating parking along the Lake. She claimed that studies have shown that narrow roads are safer and said that the town would be putting state funding at risk if it eliminated the bike path along the Lake.
Danehy said that she supported biking but was not in favor of eliminating the parking along the Lake.
Dombroski noted that the Council has received lots of feedback that people do not want to eliminate parking on Main Street along the Lake.
In the end, the Town Council voted 4-3 to approve McLane’s motion to preserve all parking on Main Street along the Lake between Lowell and Church streets and to cancel plans for parking study of that stretch.