Traffic issues weighed on proposed Walmart site

SAUGUS – Potential traffic issues at the proposed Walmart site on Route 1 took center stage at Thursday night’s Planning Board meeting, as representatives from various developers and consulting firms gave an informal presentation on the project.Engineers laid out proposed changes to the site at 770 Broadway to accommodate a new Walmart.Among them are increasing the store size from 82,000 square feet to 114,000 square feet, increasing the amount of parking spots to 385, moving the entrance points from the southerly side of the property to an in-and-out lane on the northern side and an exit on the southern side.There will also be a 10-foot-wide acceleration and deceleration lane in front of the store along Route 1.In all, Bob Clarke of the engineering firm Allen & Major Associates, Inc., said there would be an increase of 80 vehicle trips per day over the original site plan for a total of 550.”I’d like to see the number of trips in writing,” said Planning Board Chair Mary Carfagna. “Traffic is going to be a big thing with the residents in town and I think we need to at least devote one whole meeting to that.”Traffic Consultant Ron Müller, of Ron Müller & Associates, said a new traffic study would be needed since one was already conducted for the original 82,000 square foot project.”At the time the tenants for the center weren’t known,” said Müller. “So what we used at the time for trip-generation rates was shopping center rates, which is a very conservative rate, a very high traffic generation and encompasses all different kinds of retail. Ultimately whatever goes in there is covered by that trip-generation rate.”Müller went on to explain that since the tenant will now be a Walmart, a trip-generation rate for discount superstores was used, which, despite being a larger store than the original plan, resulted in less traffic generation.”The reason for that is because at a supercenter, customers spend a longer period of time within the store,” said Müller.All of these calculations aren’t final. The Board voted 5-0 that the proposed changes are enough to require a further public hearing.”There’s already a lot of concerns,” said Carfagna. “Route 1 is tough. I know there’s all this methodology ? but Walmart seems to be more of a destination to me. It seems to me that it’s going to be a higher traffic generator than a different retail use, even if it was a supermarket.”Walmart representatives will once again go before the Planning Board on July 21, this time for a formal public hearing.