Westwood Station traffic plans to be aired

A preliminary design for measures that could be taken to decrease traffic generated by the 4.5 million-square-foot Westwood Station project will be presented tomorrow night at the Thurston Middle School on High Street.

Engineers from the firm Glatting Jackson will present the design, which details so-called "traffic calming" measures for Canton Street, Forbes Road and Everett Street.

The measures include traffic circles, medians and realigned T intersections designed to keep speed at about 30-35 mph and to discourage motorists from using Canton Street as a cut-through between Interstate 95 and Rte. 128, said Town Administrator Michael Jaillet yesterday.

The Everett Forbes Neighborhood Association has called for a reduction in the size of the $1.5 billion Westwood Station shopping, hotel, office and housing complex off University Avenue. The association is in the midst of confidential settlement negotiations with Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, the builders of Westwood Station, about traffic. Members of the association "hope negotiations will be productive," John Harding, its president, said Monday.

The town retained Glatting Jackson to conduct a study in the fall, said Jaillet, and the $130,000 cost will be covered by CC&F, the developer of the 1.5 billion retail, housing, office and hotel project off University Avenue. CC&F has promised to pay $1 million for the traffic work and an article on the spring Town Meeting warrant would set up a town fund to accept the payment.

The development agreement for Westwood Station has not yet been signed, Jaillet said.

The Glatting Jackson design does not come with a projected cost for the actual construction of the traffic calming measures, said Jaillet, because the study could still be altered after neighbors comment tomorrow.

"We are always concerned with our residents and concerned with trying to do what is right," said Jaillet.

A traffic analysis commissioned by the residents of the Forbes Road, Canton Street and Everett Street area released in October said that the new Canton Street off-ramp planned for the I-95 north could be "disastrous" to the street.

The report warned that the volume of cars using Canton Street as a cut-through between I-95 and Rte. 128 would "greatly increase" if the exit ramp is installed before a reconfiguration of the interchange between the two highways is completed.

The report did not take into account the "traffic calming" measures planned for Canton, Forbes and Everett streets.

Daily News staff writer Anna Kivlan can be reached at 781-433-8336 or akivlan@cnc.com.