Intersection In Bellingham To Get 'Roundabout'
An artist rendering of a proposed $143.7 million mixed-use development in Bellingham.
A $143.7 million retail and office project in Bellingham at the intersection of Route 126 and Interstate 495 is in the planning stages. But before the project can get underway, a major overhaul of the highway intersection costing between $6 million and $8 million must be completed.
The retail and office project, called The Shoppes at Bellingham, still needs to be approved by the Bellingham Planning Board. Tenants and financing must be secured as well.
The multi-phase project calls for 550,000 square feet of retail and 600,000 square feet of office space. It's being pitched by the WS Development Associates of Chestnut Hill. The company already owns three other shopping centers on Route 126 in Bellingham: The Crossroads Shopping Center, the Charles River Center and the Stallbrook Marketplace.
"The timeline will be the critical thing," said Bob Frazier, WS Associates' vice president of development. "We'll have to keep an eye on the progress of the interchange modifications...so we can determine when to start our permitting process."
Timeline
The road project has been approved by the Massachusetts Highway Department's design review committee, but formal design and funding are not yet in place.
The current intersection improvement plan calls for creating a multi-land roundabout (traffic circle) at the bottom of the 495 southbound exit ramp for Route 126.
"The proposed roundabout would be considered ‘unconventional' for this part of the country. However, they are becoming more popular," said Ann C. Dufresne, a spokesman state's Executive Office of Transportation.
The goal of a roundabout is to keep cars moving and accommodate the projected increased traffic from the new development. A roundabout would also mean that Mass Highway can improve the intersection without rebuilding the Route 126 bridge over 495, according to Dufresne.
The project's timeline should follow Mass Highway's usual process, Dufresne said. Its complexity means it will take three to four years to design and permit, and another two years to build, she added.
WS Development will try to time its permitting process with the road project so they're both finished at about the same time, Frazier said.
Bellingham Town Planner Stacey Wetstein said she estimates that five years is the soonest the project could be built.
But it's a project that will be worth the wait, Frazier said.
"It's going to be a life style center with a little bit of a different layout," he said. "It's going to have a Main Street-type layout with pedestrian walkways. It will suit the Baby Boomer now that the malls have been taken over by the teenage group."
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