March 1, 2019 By Carol Britton Meyer
We all travel the Route 3A corridor from time to time, whether heading for another part of Hingham or to Nantasket Beach or to shop in Cohasset.
Plans to improve the busy and lengthy roadway — which runs from the intersection of George Washington Boulevard and Rockland Street, past Martins Lane and through the Rotary, past North and Ship streets and the Bathing Beach to Otis Street and Broad Cove Road near the Lobster Pound — are now at the 25 percent design stage.
The Route 3A Task Force held a hearing recently now that the project has reached that point. “We reviewed all of the contemplated design changes from Otis Street and Broad Cove Road to George Washington Boulevard,” Selectmen Chairman Paul Healey, who sits on the task force, told the Hingham Anchor. “The town has worked collaboratively with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation [Route 3A is a state roadway] so we are hopeful this will make it through the next stage in a smooth manner. This has been a strong concerted effort smoothly executed in cooperation with the towns of Hull and Cohasset.”
The proposal is designed “to enhance the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicular traffic as well as to complement the ongoing work in the harbor,” Healey said. He was referring to the completion of the Whitney Wharf Bridge and the beachfront brick walkway and planned wharf improvements, a new bathhouse/snack shop/community room, beach plantings, and in the future, a new Hingham Maritime Center boathouse and other Barnes Wharf improvements through a fundraising effort and other sources of funding.
“The Selectmen appreciate the hard work of the Route 3A Task Force, the town engineer and his team, the strong assistance of our public safety chiefs, and the towns of Hull and Cohasset for their hard work in making this effort a success,” Healey said.
The Rte. 3A Task Force plans to submit a warrant article for the 2018 Town Meeting, the amount not yet determined, “to get to the final point,” Healey said, referring to the 100 percent design stage.
The Rte. 3A improvement proposal was spurred by an earlier Town Meeting vote to allocate up to $400,000 to begin the development of plans for roadway improvements along the corridor with the hopes that the state would see the need for major safety enhancements.
If approved at the end of the review process, the state would foot most of the bill — with the town eligible to receive between $7 and $8 million to complete the comprehensive project. The ultimate decision rests with the Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation. “There’s a lot of competition for state roadway funds,” Town Engineer Roger Fernandes said earlier.
The project scope includes the pilot “road diet” that took place last summer, when the four lanes along the corridor were reduced to one in each direction. The project was deemed a success by task force members and consultants for the project and will be wrapped into the overall Route 3A plan.
At the request of some Hull residents, the stretch from Muzzi’s Corner at the Rockland Street/George Washington Boulevard intersection to Martin’s Lane will remain four lanes — two in each direction — rather than switch to the one lane in each direction pattern that was incorporated into the “road diet” program last year. The other lane reductions will remain the same as they were set up during the pilot program.