FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		HARTWELL COMMONS SET TO OPEN The Herald News, Sunday, January 11, 2009 - Page A1 Fall River— Already the most dangerous intersection in southeastern Massachusetts, the spot where Plymouth Avenue and Rodman Street meet is soon to get new neighbors — an eight-pump Gulf gas station, convenience store, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chinese restaurant, car wash and liquor store. Hartwell Commons, set to open next month at the corner of Rodman and Hartwell streets, could make traffic there worse, according to one agency — or actually improve it, claims another. BETA Group, Inc., the firm that studied traffic in the area in July 2007, said congestion actually will be improved, mainly because of a new traffic light at the Rodman-Hartwell intersection that will be coordinated with the Plymouth-Rodman intersection via wireless radio. With that improvement, as well as widening the turn from Rodman to Hartwell and eliminating street-side parking along Hartwell Street near the intersection, “we can improve traffic problems that already exist in the area,” BETA said. Frank Marchione, the developer, acknowledged the area’s history of accidents and congestion but said the traffic light and other improvements will help. “We take care of our little corner of the world,” he said. But SRPEDD, the regional planning agency, originally suggested the city turn down the plan. Months before BETA’s traffic study, Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District Director of Highway Planning James C. Hadfield said the plan was cause for concern. “This site will generate considerable additional traffic to an already severely congested intersection.” A few aspects of the plaza’s design especially worried Hadfield. He felt the entrance from Rodman Street was too close to Plymouth Avenue, that inadequate storage space for the front building conflicted with access from Hartwell Street, and the driving lanes for the car wash conflicted with a parking easement for the adjacent Tecumseh Mills apartment building. The Dunkin’ Donuts will likely draw the most cars during peak morning and afternoon hours, and drive-throughs can sometimes back up into driveways and streets, too, Hadfield said this week. Some of those issues have been remedied, like widening the turn from Rodman to Hartwell and eliminating parking on Hartwell, but two SRPEDD officials said other problems still exist. “Ideally you don’t add anything to the area because what’s already there, the intersection can’t handle,” Hadfield said. “But you have to make it work the best you can.” Lisa Estrela-Pedro, SRPEDD’s principal transportation planner, said Hartwell Commons will undoubtedly increase traffic but the new signal at Rodman and Hartwell will help because traffic often backs up from the Plymouth-Rodman intersection into to the Rodman-Hartwell intersection. “It might mitigate some traffic,” she said, because the stop light will keep cars from blocking the intersection. The Niagara Neighborhood Association opposed the plan for much the same reasons as SRPEDD. “We certainly have enough gasoline stations within a mile,” it said, and “the neighborhood is too congested with the abutting Tecumseh Mills housing development and a Walgreens and Applebee’s and a medical center.” City Councilor Ray Hague noticed potential problems, too. “This will cause a tremendous impact on traffic flow and public safety,” he told Fall River Traffic Director Laura Ferreira in July 2007. The Plymouth Avenue and Rodman Street intersection is notorious for accidents and long backups. It topped SRPEDD’s 2006 list of the most dangerous intersections in the area and is fourth-worst in the state based on the rate of crashes. But the Planning Board approved the project last February, and the changes Marchione made to the plan were enough to also win Hague over. “I think they’ve done the best they can to alleviate the problem,” Hague said, crediting the wider intersection and new signal. “Improvement was needed.” Two two-way driveways connect the plaza to Hartwell Street, and a one-way entrance was built near the Walgreens driveway for cars driving on Rodman Street away from Plymouth Avenue. The plaza — at the long-vacant former Luther Manufacturing mill complex — will have a convenience store called Hartwell Quick-Stop, a Dunkin’ Donuts and New China, a Chinese take-out restaurant, in the front of the property, which will open in mid-February. A car wash with an automatic-wash lane, two self-serve bays and vacuums will be built directly behind Walgreens and should open in late summer. A 6,000 square-foot liquor store is planned for the back of the property, between Applebee's, Tecumseh Mills and I-195, and should open in about a year. Back