The summer crowds were gone and traffic sparse Monday morning in Menemsha, but town officials had streams of pedestrians and clogged streets on the mind during their regular fall walk-through of the fishing village.
Selectmen host biannual walk-throughs of Chilmark’s downtown, one in the spring and another in the fall. This week they were joined by a consultant who has created a preliminary plan for improvements to the Menemsha corridor, ranging from addressing lines for ice cream to new signs, walkways, crosswalks, and parking configurations.
The walkabout started at the closed Galley restaurant. In the summer people stand in the road while waiting to order ice cream, police chief Jonathan Klaren said. Others pointed out the traffic jams from cars trying to turn around to head back toward Basin Road. “There’s not enough room for two SUVs to pass,” selectmen Warren Doty said.
Consultant William Brewster, of Brewster Architects in Connecticut noted that as in other areas of Menemsha, there wasn’t a lot of land to work with. His plan suggests signs saying “No Outlet” outside the Galley, at the turn to Boat House Road, and pavement markings to indicate a turnaround area.
The Menemsha corridor plan was commissioned by the town and Martha’s Vineyard Commission. Commission executive director Adam Turner joined the walk-through.
As the group headed down North Road, discussion turned to pedestrians. Currently, people tend to walk in the middle of the street.
The preliminary plan calls for a crushed stone and shell path along business fronts on Basin Road, which would require working with homeowners along the road. Basin Road resident Jane Slater, who is also on the historical commission, said homeowners are agreeable.
“That’s a lot of people in agreement in Menemsha,” selectman Bill Rossi said.
A man and his dog joined the group as they walked toward the beach, stopping to note plantings spilling over the town line and debate the location of a crosswalk.
The group stopped outside the new slatted pedestrian walkway that is laid out over the sand to the comfort station on Basin Road. Mr. Brewster pointed out that the walkway is not up to code for handicapped access because the gap between the slats is too wide. The walkway also doesn’t extend to the women’s restroom. He suggested replacing it with a compliant walkway and eventually extending it toward the beach.
“Everything won’t be done in one fell swoop,” subcommittee member Janet Weidner said. “This might not be the first thing we do.”
Other suggestions included replacing cinder blocks at the end of parking spaces along Basin Road with square pilings featuring parking limit signs and extending the boardwalk to the swordfish sculpture in the dunes above the road, so people don’t’ trample over the entire dune to access the sculpture.
Snow or sand fencing could also keep people off the dunes, town manager Timothy Carroll said.
Another proposal calls for a VTA bus turnaround area by the comfort station so buses do not have to navigate the busy parking lot at the end of Basin Road.
The beach parking lot was largely empty Monday except for a coating of sand from recent storms. Mr. Brewster suggested repainting spaces, including adding a designated dropoff area.
The sand is also addressed in the plan. Mr. Brewster suggested reconfiguring the bulkhead on the beach so hollow space underneath faces the water and not the parking lot, and adding a secondary bulkhead for feet toward the parking lot to add another barrier against wind-blown sand.
The roving meeting soon ended, with the planning board subcommittee heading back to town hall to discuss additions to the draft report. The board will later make recommendations to selectmen and any proposed projects that require funding will come before town meeting.
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