Brooks Pharmacy

Posted on August 1, 2007 by billmanzi

As the Eagle-Tribune reports today I have communicated to Brooks Pharmacy on Pleasant Street the possibility that Methuen could revoke their occupancy permit based on their non-compliance with access rules governing the state regulated curb cuts. I did this as a last resort, having waited patiently for Brooks to complete negotiations with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on this issue so that vital traffic improvements could be made at this intersection. These negotiations have been ongoing for well over a year and have left in place a traffic situation that is entirely unacceptable to Methuen. Before I communicated this possibility to Brooks I made every attempt to speak with them on this issue. Each attempt was rebuffed or lost in the corporate bureacracy. If you think that dealing with government can be difficult try getting someone at Brooks to answer a simple question. We are working with Target to implement some needed traffic improvements based on their new store coming to Methuen, and it appeared to me that without action by me we would lose this construction season for the Brooks part of the work. I look forward to working with Brooks to resolve this situation and get the work done that was scheduled over two years ago.
Link to the Eagle-Tribune article here.

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4 Responses to Brooks Pharmacy

  1. Jim says:
    August 2, 2007 at 4:42 am

    Mayor,

    Wow, tough week… %-)

    Thanks again for providing this forum to address constituent issues w/responsive feedback.

    I was surprised (but glad!) to hear that additional traffic improvements ‘should’ be coming to the intersection at Brooks pharmacy. However, I do recall the previous administration having indicated that all traffic mitigation at that site had already been implemented, although those temporary markers always struck me as just that – temporary — and the rush hour backups prove that there are still issues.

    I’m wondering why we have not previously heard about an additional $350,000 in planned improvements, and while this will now amount to $1M in improvements that had been planned for that intersection, it only leaves $350,000 to be applied (as $650,000 went back into the general budget).

    The jist of the article is that because this curb cut was on Rte. 113, this is all a state issue, but it would seem that lane widening in addition to ‘smart’ lights mentioned in the article would be required. In addition to the median mentioned in the article, what other improvements are planned to relieve the rush hour congestion at that intersection, and can it really be done with only $350,000?

    I don’t think adding a median to replace markers which most drivers abide by anyway is the ‘be all and end all’ to traffic issues at that location. Will the city now need to supplement the state money to fix things right?

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  2. Bill Manzi says:
    August 2, 2007 at 5:06 am

    Jim,
    Regardless of any prior statements all traffic mitigation at that intersection has not been done. The $350,000 is not an amount designated for improvements but the curb cut access fee charged to Brooks by Mass Highway. The reason that it has been designated as a state issue is because the three things you cite (re-striping of the bridge, re-synch of the signals, and the replacement of the temp. cones with a traffic island)have been held up by the dispute between Mass Highway and Brooks. That dispute has been ongoing for about eighteen months, and needs to be resolved now. As far as additional resources not all of the original $650,000 was spent. Between $150,000-$200,000 remains. We also have a mitigation payment from Target, as well as direct expenditure by Target on this intersection. (Direct expenditure of about $200,000, mitigation payment of about $150,000). The Brooks piece was never considered by me to be the “ultimate” solution, but rather the begining part of ongoing improvements. With Target coming on line soon my frustration at this delay has grown daily, hence my message to Brooks. I will try to do a post on the additional improvements scheduled by Target as well as additional engineering work we are doing there. In the final analyses I believe that we will need to partner with the state moving forward, but we will do what we can on our own to make beneficial changes. And yes, it was a tough week!

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  3. Derek Jackson says:
    August 3, 2007 at 7:20 am

    The article in the Trib (http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_213115616) mentioned that the $200,000 that went to the Festival of Trees and was later returned to the city went to the general budget. I’m curious as to why it was not used for traffic improvements at the site?

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  4. Bill Manzi says:
    August 3, 2007 at 9:21 am

    Derek,
    There remains about $200,000 from that Brooks mitigation payment. Before we can do any traffic improvements we must design them and integrate them with the Target improvements and potential State work. We will use all mitigation monies derived from those business to improve the traffic situation at that intersection.

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