Select Board Considers Dropping Envision Grant

May 28, 2025
• The board discussed relinquishing $320,000 in grant funding that would require the installation of bike lanes, which some say is too limiting and does not have broad support.

As the town charts a path forward for its controversial Envision Needham Center project — a proposed redevelopment project along part of Great Plain Avenue — the Select Board examined possible next steps, including whether to forgo awarded funding, at its Tuesday meeting.

After a well-attended public hearing on the project two weeks ago, Vice Chair Cathy Dowd analyzed residents’ responses, finding the vast majority opposed aspects of the current iteration of the plan. Without far-reaching support, Dowd suggested they “need to step back and consider other plans.”

Those plans could include Great Plain Avenue’s current four-lane composition, as well as “a compromise case,” such as a three-lane or two-lane street, she said. The latest version of the project design includes two lanes — one in each direction — as well as bike lanes, widened sidewalks and spaces for outdoor dining.

A $320,000 grant for the project requires Needham to install bike lanes, and by considering alternatives that don’t account for bike lanes, the town would have to pass on that grant.

“What that would also mean is we would be required to give up the state grant that is tying our hands to the bike lanes,” Dowd said. “If we’re going to actually consider other cases, it’s not intellectually honest to be tied to one of those cases, so we’d have to walk away from the grant, give up that money.”

A 12-month pilot was scheduled to start in July, but the board announced at Town Meeting that it would be postponed by six months.

Much of the public hearing centered on potential traffic through Needham Center, as well as parking and safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Business owners expressed concern for their ability to maintain customers should the plans be implemented.

In response, Dowd said the 15-member Envision Needham Center Working Group, which advises the Department of Public Works and offers feedback, should work alongside consultants to address those highlighted issues and solicit more input from residents.

Chair Heidi Frail stressed the need to consider other options and be responsive to the public’s perspectives.

“As much as I don’t want to walk away from the money, it does seem like that is a better plan,” Frail said, “and that’ll allow us to customize this more for the situation that we find ourselves in.”

Member Marianne Cooley concurred, adding the grant “handcuffed us” and prevented the town from applying feedback. She acknowledged Needham’s “downtown needs some TLC” while emphasizing her commitment to safe streets for walkers, bikers and drivers.

Referring to the MBTA Communities Act rezoning, Cooley said she hopes multi-use buildings could introduce more pedestrian travel in the area.

Dowd advocated for expanding the working group to 16 members in an effort to hear from more constituencies, but Kevin Keane, who sits on that committee, pointed to potential logistical difficulties. He added that sitting members bring a range of perspectives, not just their individual opinions.

“It’s a hard committee to be on, the meetings are long, it’s impossible to schedule them,” Keane said. “So I think 16 — I think you’re not solving the problem, you’re just making the problem worse.”

Three seats on the working group are reserved for business representatives. Two of those seats were vacant until recently.

Adding another member would further complicate things, Cooley said, and holding other input sessions could allow additional perspectives to be heard.

“I feel like part of what we failed on here was we didn’t have the outreach that was getting that input from other people along the way, and clearly that didn’t happen,” she said. “I think going to a bigger committee, my opinion is it doesn’t help.”

Dowd’s multi-faceted motion, including dropping the grant, was tabled until the board’s next meeting on June 10 to give them more time.

As consultants and DPW assess an updated timeline for the project, Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick also called for a slowdown.

“I think one of our missteps is trying to hit a target date without enough time,” Fitzpatrick said, “so I think we need to really slow this way down.”