SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission recently approved a $200,000 roadway improvement planning grant for downtown Chicopee, but denied a request for additional funds for the partial redesign of Elm Street in West Springfield.
In both cases, the cities were seeking the funds paid by Massachusetts casinos, including MGM Springfield, to mitigate adverse impacts they have on surrounding communities like increased traffic.
Chicopee plans to use the $200,000 to hire a consultant to evaluate and improve traffic in downtown Chicopee, studying “automobile movement patterns; traffic volumes; parking; bike networks; pedestrian networks; public bus routes; and connections to regional systems,” according to a summary from the commission’s Mitigation Fund Review Committee.
The grant will help with the development of conceptual designs and recommendations, including gathering public comment, before moving to the final design, the review team said.
MGM Springfield’s original impact analysis stated that approximately 4.5% of the traffic generated by the casino will travel on Chicopee roads, including through Chicopee Center.
MGM Springfield and the state Department of Transportation supported Chicopee’s request for the mitigation funds, and it was approved by a 4-0 vote of the commission. The $200,000 amount is the maximum annual award for transportation planning grants.
West Springfield, which has received multiple mitigation grants in recent years, was denied its most recent request for $147,600 by a 4-0 vote.
In 2017, the commission approved a grant to improve traffic flow and safety on Elm Street due to an increase in traffic from MGM Springfield.
The town was seeking additional funds to redesign a portion of the project in order to relocate and extend bike lanes while addressing concerns about the loss of on-street parking, commission officials said. West Springfield was also seeking to extend the project onto Southworth Street, and to use some of the mitigation funds to purchase traffic counting equipment.
Joseph Delaney, the commission’s project oversight manager, said the redesign could have been avoided if the parking issues were addressed earlier in the process. In addition, the review committee could not identify an impact from the casino that was associated with the expansion of the project.
Delaney said the road project is being done in association with the construction of a new school to replace the Coburn School on Southworth Street.
“While an increase of traffic at that location may be of concern, that new traffic is an impact of the school and not the casino,” Delaney said, adding that there was not a breakdown of what cost was related to the casino.
Commission members including chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein said they might have been agreeable to a partial mitigation grant if a breakdown of costs related to the casino could be provided.
West Springfield, in submitting the grant application and in providing supplemental information, stated that “the potential increase of traffic from Southworth St. onto Elm St. would conflict with traffic destined for the Casino originating from Route 20.”
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