Residents and commissioners press for more local review of massive Milestone Road roundabout designs

At the Nov. 17 NPDC meeting, Commissioner Hillary Rayport and others urged staff and MassDOT to slow the roll‑out of large roundabout concepts for Milestone Road and Nobadeer Farm Road and to involve the community earlier in the design process.

Hillary said she was alarmed by reported diameters of 180–200 feet and highlighted pedestrian and crash‑speed concerns in rural stretches. "I would like to have the opportunity to really workshop this with a lot more detail than we've been given," she said, asking for charrettes or small‑group sessions during the 10%–25% design phases so community preferences and historic‑commission feedback are integrated.

Transportation program manager Mike Mizzarelli said staff has compared MassDOT's engineering designs with prior conceptual plans and has passed detailed comments back to DOT and the engineer. He said MassDOT District 5 has reached out to trucking companies to verify turning radii and that staff wants to ensure materials presented to the public already reflect community and historical comments. "It's our diligence to verify that they've actually been incorporated before it's released," Mike said.

Speakers recommended outreach to freight operators and local businesses, sequencing the two intersection projects because both cannot be constructed simultaneously, and creating a public project page with milestones (25%/75% design) and public‑comment dates to reduce confusion. Commissioners said the town funds the design work and retains control of final design choices through TIP programming and the request to DOT.

Next steps: staff will post preliminary designs and schedule a public information session once MassDOT addresses staff comments; commissioners signaled interest in charrettes and TPAC involvement during early design stages.