Sunderland ZBA to discuss peer review of Dollar General’s traffic study

SUNDERLAND — Discussion on the proposal for a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General on the corner of Route 116 and Clark Mountain Road will continue on April 29, when the Zoning Board of Appeals plans to discuss engineering firm Tighe & Bond’s peer review of the applicant’s traffic study.

In what was the 10th hearing on the proposal on Thursday, Michael Wulforst of Bowman Consulting Group described changes made to the traffic report since it was first submitted, including an alteration to the proposed store’s driveway. While the original traffic report included an entry point on Route 116 that limited vehicles to only turning right into the store parking lot and right to leave the lot, the current proposal includes a “full access” driveway allowing multiple paths of entry.

While Wulforst characterized this as a “minor change,” ZBA Chair Steve Krol said the switch came as a surprise.

“That’s a big change with what was proposed,” Krol said.

Krol and other ZBA members asked if the state Department of Transportation was requiring applicant Calito Development Group to make this change. Wulforst said he was unaware of the reasoning behind the switch. Catherine Mis, the attorney representing the applicant, said she would ask project engineer Rob Levesque for the cause. Krol expressed frustration with Levesque’s absence, describing it as an “impediment” to the ZBA process.

Wulforst clarified that the entryway would be located across from the entrance into the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot on Route 116.

“Well that sounds like a real party,” Sunderland resident Susan Triolo commented, adding that the proposed driveway would turn that section of Route 116 into “bumper cars.”

Wulforst said the traffic study projected the change would not impact traffic levels on Route 116, based on data collected during the “peak hours” of 7:45 to 8:45 a.m. and 4 to 5 p.m. over the two weekdays Bowman Consulting Group studied.

The ZBA members voted to ask Tighe & Bond to analyze and compare the impacts of the two types of proposed driveways on Route 116 traffic.

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