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Northborough planners pitch Blake Street pocket park and streetscape, estimate $850,000
Summary
Planning Director Laurie Connors told the Financial Planning Committee the Blake Street Park and Streetscape project would be the town’s FY27 CPC priority, covering the pocket park, 13 adjacent municipal spaces and streetscape elements; the project is at 75% design with an estimated $850,000 construction cost and would go to a town-meeting vote if CPC recommends it.
Planning Director Laurie Connors presented the Blake Street Park and Streetscape project to the Town of Northborough’s Financial Planning Committee on Dec. 9, saying, "The only project that would go forward in f y 27 is the Blake Street Park and Streetscape project." The application covers a small pocket park at Blake and Main, the 13 municipal parking spaces that abut it, and the streetscape along the east side of Blake Street.
Connors said the design focuses on accessibility and stormwater fixes: ADA-compliant walkways and parking, new pedestrian lighting and seating, bike racks, a pergola, expanded planted islands and rain gardens, and a split-rail fence to discourage unsafe crossings of nearby railroad tracks. She described planned stormwater infrastructure that would include new catch basins, piping, and ring gardens to reduce recurring puddling in the parking lot.
On funding, Connors noted the select board has already allocated $250,000 in ARPA funds for part of the project’s design work. The portion seeking CPC funding is limited to park and immediately adjacent streetscape elements; she clarified that "the rest of the municipal parking lot will not be repaved as part of this project scope," because such repaving is ineligible for CPA funds and would require a municipal appropriation. The project’s current 75% design estimate is $850,000, which the team said includes a 20% contingency, mobilization fees, construction oversight and police details.
Committee members pressed staff on details of phasing and construction integration. Connors said only the spaces directly abutting the park would be reconstructed now, and that granite curbing would be set in concrete with localized paving patches around raised islands; full-lot repaving would be a separate municipal effort when funding is available. She also said that some adjacent property owners have been engaged but are awaiting the town’s final design before deciding whether to invest in complementary façade or parking improvements.
If approved by CPC and at town meeting, Connors said the schedule is to finalize cost and design in winter, prepare bid documents for January 2027, issue a bid and award contracts so construction could begin in April 2027 and conclude by December 2027.
The project team emphasized that design decisions were informed by public workshops and a nine-person focus group, and that accessibility, safety and stormwater mitigation were driving priorities. The Financial Planning Committee did not take a formal vote on the CPC application at the Dec. 9 meeting; the CPC open hearing and further committee review are scheduled to continue in January.
