Northfield’s City Council has begun the process of moving forward with planned improvements to Mill Towns State Trail and nearby streets, ordering a pair of feasibility studies for a pair of southeast Northfield projects slated for completion in 2026.
After securing $8.15 million in state assistance in the 2023 bonding bill, the city is committed to building 6.1 miles of the long-awaited Mill Towns Trail by 2026, along a route which will connect the current trail running from Dundas to downtown Northfield to the Waterford Historic Bridge.
Under the first project considered by council, Spring Creek Road from Huron Court to Woodley Street will undergo a full reconstruction, while a short new section of Mill Towns Trail will be added to connect Spring Creek Park to Woodley Street.
Engineering Manager Sean Simonson noted that, as Spring Creek Road is a state aid highway, the city can access state funding to help cover the cost. The reconstruction will include a new water main, upgraded stormwater infrastructure and curb and gutter along with new pavement.
The anticipated project timeline indicates that more than a year of consultation and development of plans and specs is likely to follow. Neighborhood meetings are expected to take place this fall and next December, with an advertisement for formal bids not anticipated until February 2026.
“We’re getting an early start on this project so we can hit the ground running with this,” Simonson said. “We do have some action items in later 2024, but the main design will be completed in 2025 and plan approval in early 2026.”
Neighborhood resident Elaine Schaffner expressed concerns about the safety of the proposed Mill Towns Trail route, which would include a cross from the west side to the east side of Spring Creek Road before reaching the intersection with Woodley Street if one is going northbound.
Schaffner said that by simply sticking to the west side of Spring Creek Road, cyclists and walkers could avoid the challenge of having to cross a busy road which tends to see speedy motorists, as well as several busy driveways.
“As a bicyclist, someone who used to commute by bike to work in Phoenix and in the suburbs of Boston, this east side plan is not safe in my opinion,” Schaffner said.
In order to keep the trail on the west side of the street, Schaffner said she has proposed several alternative routes. City Councilor Kathleen Holmes also encouraged Simonson and City Engineer Dave Bennet to look at potential alternatives for the Mill Towns Trail route.
Holmes said that the project is important for many of her constituents in Ward 1, who can look forward to seeing an increasingly popular gravel road in their neighborhood paved, and for all Northfielders who are pleased to see another stretch of Mill Towns Trail under construction.
That said, Holmes said the city also has an obligation to maximize safety on the proposed route. At Bennet’s advice, Holmes moved to amend the motion approving the feasibility study with specific direction that the feasibility of potential alternative routes in that area be examined.
“This is an important project and it’s a great connector for the Mill Towns Trail,” Holmes said. “I think it might be beneficial to look at alternatives, as (Schaffner) mentioned, looking at safety.”
Bennet warned that keeping the trail to the west side of Spring Creek Road south of Woodley Street would result in significant tree loss, and the trail would need to shift to the east side of Spring Creek Road north of that intersection due to the presence of a pond on the west side.
Acknowledging that the street’s status as something of a transition from urban to rural sometimes results in excessive speeds, Bennett said that the city hopes to integrate speed reduction measures on that particular stretch of Spring Creek Road for the safety of all.
The second project would feature mill and overlay work on four connected streets: Maple Street from Meadow View Drive to Jefferson Parkway, Maple Court, Prairie Street from Meadow View Drive to Jefferson Parkway, and Jefferson Parkway from Division Street to Spring Creek Road.
By removing the top layer of pavement and replacing it with fresh asphalt, the city anticipates that it can extend the life of the four streets by an additional 15 to 20 year, at much less cost than a full reconstruction project and with much less impact to residents and businesses.
In addition to a new stretch of the new Mill Towns Trail, the project will include other generous contributions to the city’s pedestrian and bike infrastructure, with new sidewalks and bikeways added to Prairie Street and the sidewalk along Jefferson Street expanded to a full multi use trail.
Improving the safety of intersections within the project area is also set to be a key part of the project. At the intersections of Maple Street and Meadowview Drive as well as Jefferson Parkway and Prairie Street, preliminary recommendations center around curb extensions.
Other intersections could see more significant changes, with a median refuge island and marked crosswalk suggested for the intersection of Jefferson Parkway and Washington Street and flashing beacons and an extended median recommended for the intersection of Jefferson Parkway and Michigan Drive.
The second project’s timeline will take place on a nearly identical timeline as the first, with design work set to take place in 2025 and construction in 2026. However, no community meetings are anticipated until 2025.
Mayor Pownell expressed some concern about the “green infrastructure” portions of the project, which have been recommended as part of preliminary design work and could include tree plantings, rain gardens and other natural approaches intended to boost water quality.
While expressing support for efforts to make the project greener, Pownell urged staff to take into account the limited availability of staff time and potentially shy away from higher maintenance forms of “green infrastructure,” such as rain gardens.
“I’m all for green infrastructure, except for when we don’t have the staff to actually take care of it,” Powell said. “I’ve seen it over the years — existing ones that are put in turn into weeds, and we just don’t have the staff to take care of them.”
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