PROJECT ISSUES

Sensitivity for the Natural and Human Environment

In developing the preferred alternative for this project, MassDOT Highway Division, made its selection in keeping with its principle of minimizing the impacts of road building projects on the natural and human environment. A graphic of the roads built as part of this project depict this commitment. Executive Park Drive follows a sinuous, curving path from its origin at Riggenbach Road to its end at South Main Street. This route provides access to the new Executive Park Drive while carefully avoiding almost all of the wetlands in the area. While a small segment of wetland was disturbed as part of this project, it was replaced in-kind at work’s conclusion. To the north of the new Exit 8B, a wildlife crossing large enough to accommodate deer ensures that animals can move unhindered through the project area while avoiding a dangerous crossing of Route 24.

This project also respected the human environment to the fullest extent possible.  South Main Street was reoriented to ensure:

• A safe intersection between South Main Street and Executive Park Drive.
• An adequate distance between the intersection of South Main Street and Executive Park Drive and the Exit 8B ramps and Executive Park Drive to ensure that the traffic queue from the intersection of South Main Street and Executive Park Drive does not back up into the ramp system.
• A gentle grade as Executive Park Drive descends the hill from its intersection with the Exit 8B ramps to its intersection South Main Street.

There were several possible options reviewed prior to selecting the preferred alternative that could have achieved the needs laid out above. The selected option did not result in the taking of any homes or businesses and required only minor strip takings of land. The project area also contained sites of general historic significance and particular importance to the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and the Mashpee Tribe. All of these sites were surveyed by the project’s archaeological consultants, flagged and fenced to ensure that they were not damaged by construction activities. Tribal Historic Preservation Officers from both tribes were involved in the design process and visited the sites during construction to monitor their wellbeing.