Neighbors Say Pine Oaks Project Will Generate Too Much Traffic

HARWICH – The proposed 288-unit Pine Oaks Village IV housing development is too big and will have a major impact on traffic on nearby roads and intersections, North Harwich residents say.

Approximately 30 residents attended a presentation of the transportation impact assessment made by the project proponents and Vanasse and Associates, the project’s transportation engineering firm, at the Oct. 31 traffic safety committee meeting at the police station.

The initial plan for the development was to construct 264 affordable and workforce units on more than 29 acres near the intersection of Queen Anne Road and Main Street in North Harwich. Pine Oaks Village Homes vice president Robert Doane said his organization has purchased nearly five more acres there and now is proposing 288 units while adding more open space to the project. The proposal would also include a 5,000-square-foot daycare center that would be open to the public. The complex would be developed in four phases.

Pine Oaks Village has made a major contribution to the town in addressing affordable housing for seniors in three developments, Doane said. The state goal for communities is to reach a 10 percent subsidized housing inventory; Harwich is at 4.98 percent, and Pine Oaks Village accounts for nearly 50 percent of those units, he said. The organization wants to help the town reach the 10 percent goal with the new proposal, he said.

According to the transportation report, the development would generate 2,234 vehicle trips on an average week day, with 211 trips expected during the morning peak hour and 235 during the evening peak hour. The project will not result in a significant increase in motorist delays and vehicle queuing, and the majority of movement at the study area intersections are expected to continue to operate at an “acceptable” level, the report concludes.

“Independent of the project, one or more movements at the Queen Anne Road/Pleasant Lake Avenue (Route124) and Main Street/Depot Street intersections were identified to operate at or over capacity under 2030 no-build peak summer month conditions,” according to the report.

The project calls for two access and egress locations, one on Queen Anne Road and the other on Main Street. The Main Street driveway has a limited line of sight and would be used for emergency vehicles only. The main driveway along Queen Anne Road was rated very adequate to accommodate traffic movement.

“We have concluded that the project can be accommodated within the confines of the existing transportation infrastructure in a safe and efficient manner,” the report reads.

The report recommends transportation demand management measures be implemented to further reduce vehicle movement, including working with the Cape Cod Regional Transportation Authority to establish a new bus route providing service to the complex.

Jon Chorey wanted to know if the traffic study took into consideration potential traffic impacts from other proposed housing developments in the area, such as the town’s plans to develop the 13.3-acre former Marceline property, just north of the Queen Anne Road-Pleasant Lake Avenue intersection, which was identified as facing over-capacity.

He also noted the Housing Assistance Corporation has purchased the South Dennis Healthcare building, the former 128-bedroom Eagle Pond nursing home at the end of Main Street Extension for housing. Main Street Extension, the only access and egress from the building, terminates at the intersection of Main and Depot streets.

Paula Myles lives just off that intersection and said she has to wait to pull out of her driveway to avoid an accident. Drivers use Queen Anne Road and Main Street leading into the intersection to avoid traffic at the Route 6 interchange on Route 124, she said. That also exacerbates traffic conditions there, she said. The heavy traffic and large truck movement has caused a section of Main Street over the Herring River to collapse a couple of times recently, she added.

“It’s too big, and too many cars,” Myles said of the proposed Pine Oaks project.

“I do two traffic studies a day. The roads can’t handle a project of this magnitude,” said Tom Birch, who owns two properties along Queen Anne Road. His home is located near the proposed entrance to the development.

Addressing a section of the recommendations for transportation management that encourages more use of bicycles, Birch said Queen Anne Road is one of the more dangerous roads in Harwich and not suitable for bicycle use. He also said the proposed development is too big, adding that a project of 100 units might be more suitable for the site.

Teresa Johnson said the Queen Anne Road-Pleasant Lake Avenue intersection already has backups, and a development this size will create massive traffic issues. Johnson said there was a previous proposal to provide a commercial development at the site, but it was turned down because of traffic issues.

“It’s too big, too many cars, and not enough is being done in these intersections,” Johnson said.

Matt Sheehan questioned the calculations on the number of vehicles that the development would generate. He projected two to three vehicles per unit. Jeffrey Dirk, a managing partner with Vanasse, said the calculations were based on two vehicles per unit, and that is based on studies done for similar types of housing in a similar type environment. With public transportation, there will be less vehicles, he said.

Traffic safety committee member Jerry Beltis asked if any traffic mitigations funds are built into the project should additional infrastructure be necessary. He said when the Stop and Shop was built in East Harwich, traffic mitigation funds were later used to construct the roundabout at Route 39 and Queen Anne Road. Department of Public Works Director Lincoln Hooper, a committee member, said the Stop and Shop project was a development of regional impact project through which the Cape Cod Commission required $1.4 million be set aside for additional roadway infrastructure.

Jim Perrine of Commonwealth Community Development, the project contractor, said the traffic studies called for in the report will be done and that would require traffic assessment at the 60 percent and 80 percent development phases at the intersection of Queen Anne Road and Pleasant Lake Avenue.

“We’ll sit down with the town and have a discussion about it. Our budget is somewhat limited. But there will be a vehicle for that conversation,” Perrine said.

The traffic safety committee did not make any decisions at the conclusion of the meeting. However, select board member Michael MacAskill said the board would be holding a session on the traffic impact assessment in the near future.