SALEM — A consultant for the town has come up with a plan to create a "village center" in the area of the intersection of Route 28 and Main Street.
Martin Kennedy of Vanasse, Hangen and Brustlin presented the Planning Board with outlines of how the intersection could be transformed from a perpetual traffic jam into a pedestrian-friendly area with mixed-use development during a meeting last week.
Kennedy was hired as a consultant by the Depot Redevelopment Committee, a committee selected by the Board of Selectmen to come up with a plan to redevelop the intersection.
During his presentation, Kennedy outlined a series of goals for the intersection that were created by the committee. They include mixed-use development — including retail, business office, and residential development — two- to four-story buildings, shared parking areas, shared driveways and access points, and design guidelines. All of these elements would go toward creating a "village center character" in the area of the intersection, Kennedy told the Planning Board.
Part of Kennedy's plan, which has the endorsement of the Depot Redevelopment Committee, is to create multiple access routes along Route 28 by making new roads and connecting pre-existing roads.
Kennedy's renderings show connector roads with Willow Street, Central Street, Church Street, and new roads to connect Route 28 to Main Street through Pleasant Street. Those plans are only preliminary and could change, according to Town Planner Ross Moldoff.
Multiple access roads around the intersection would make the area more pedestrian-friendly, encourage development on roads aside from Main Street and Route 28, and alleviate traffic on the primary roads, Moldoff said.
"It alleviates some of the congestion and helps get traffic off the main intersection," Moldoff said.
He said he plans to work with a consultant to come up with zoning that would work to bring the area together.
"We're looking for something that would unify what we have out there," Moldoff said. "Get away from the Route 28 style of development and have something more pedestrian-friendly."
If it comes to fruition, the project would be the most ambitious planning and development project the town has ever undertaken, Moldoff said.
"No question," he said. "But there's still a lot of work to be done."
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