Developer to give Marlborough $25,000 after MassDOT blocked planned radar speed signs near 339 Boston Post Road

The developer of the Vessa apartment complex at 339 Boston Post Road proposed providing the city with $25,000 after the Massachusetts Department of Transportation refused to allow two radar speed signs the special permit required.

The payment-in-lieu proposal was presented Thursday by Cara Ciccarelli of the Percocchio Companies, who said the project is nearly framed and the three buildings are expected to open in the fall. The original special-permit condition called for two radar speed signs on Route 20 and rapid flashing beacons at a new crosswalk. Ciccarelli said MassDOT has already installed the beacons as part of its work but denied the radar-sign permit after reviewing the developer’s application.

Ciccarelli told the council the developer first submitted a permit application to MassDOT in March 2024 and appealed when the agency objected. The company then involved the city engineer, who contacted the district engineer; MassDOT responded that it would not allow the radar signs now and said it would consider a traffic study after the state roadway work is complete. Because the developer obtained its MassDOT permit in October 2024 without the radar signs, it sought to amend the special permit to replace the in-kind installation with a $25,000 payment to the city for future installation if MassDOT later permits the signs, or for “other improvements in the vicinity.”

Resident Bill Gately, whose house sits across from the site, confirmed the $25,000 would be in addition to other mitigation payments the applicant already made, including $200,000 for a traffic signal, $20,000 toward shared-transportation options, $20,000 for a recreational trail, and $35,000 for a sewer pump station. The developer said its in-house construction estimate for the radar signs was about $17,000 and the higher payment covers price variability and the time delay.

Council members pressed for assurances about accounting and use of the money. A councilor said the funds should be placed into the same mitigation account that holds other contributions from the project so the money is not absorbed into general cash; staff confirmed the payment would be routed to the existing mitigation account and Urban Affairs will add appropriate language to secure the funds’ purpose. The council closed the public hearing on the amendment; the matter was recorded as being in the Urban Affairs Committee for next steps rather than decided on Thursday.

The developer also noted the project condition that a full traffic study will be performed six months after project completion and that it will ask MassDOT then to revisit other improvements, including a possible traffic signal at the development entrance.

No formal vote to amend the permit was recorded at the council meeting; councilors and staff said the amendment would proceed through Urban Affairs for further review.