Residents Urge Select Board to Reject $13.2 Million Mountain Street Widening Plan

WILLIAMSBURG -- July 12, 2021, Williamsburg residents urged the Select Board to reject a $13.2 million MassDOT road-widening plan for Mountain Street at the July 12 meeting. The proposal, known as Alternative 5, would require 57 permanent land takings from abutters, remove 2,190 square feet of wetlands, and install stormwater basins extending up to 63 feet from the road edge, impacts residents said far outweigh any safety benefit. Penny Lovins of 85 Mountain Street cited state and federal transportation studies to argue that widening roads increases vehicle speeds rather than reducing them, and called for the town to pursue the less invasive Alternative 4 instead. Doug Warner, whose family has farmed 113 Mountain Street for 250 years, said the cost alone "should be enough reason to cause pause." A High Street resident questioned the validity of a recent speed study conducted while police were present, and said every neighbor she canvassed named speed, not lane width, as the street's core safety problem. No votes were taken.