Charlton scrutinizes traffic plan for motocross park

If you live in New England it is tough to think about a new mx track...what with all the snow on the ground. However, here is another group trying to build a new mx facility. Interest in Moto continues to grow around the country.

Worcester Telegram

By Debbie LaPlaca CORRESPONDENT

CHARLTON — Residents and the town's traffic engineer voiced concerns with a traffic impact study for the proposed motocross park on Brookfield Road at a Planning Board site planning hearing Wednesday night. SunSet City Inc. has applied for town approval to construct a campground and off-road motorcycle racing park on about 23 acres of a 150-acre site off Brookfield Road, between Route 49 and the Sturbridge town line.  During the second in a series of administrative site plan meetings, the Planning Board considered how the project would affect traffic flow and volume. Unlike earlier public meetings, the roughly 70 residents in attendance appeared to be mostly project opponents. Sara Sanborn of Jennings Road said Brookfield Road is tricky to navigate and the section where her road intersects with it is dangerous.
"There are children here and the line of sight pulling out of Jennings Road is very difficult," she said.
Ronald Charette of Brookfield Road has acted as a spokesperson for the Charlton and Sturbridge residents who oppose the park.
"Brookfield Road has become a major thoroughfare. It's a poor choice as an access point for anything on that road," he said. SunSet City partners and developers Russell G. Jennings, Brant Jennings and Brent Sellew plan to install a gravel driveway off Brookfield Road that would lead to a 135-vehicle parking lot, a 150-space campground and a motocross track.
The developers' engineer, Lloyd G. Bristol of Bristol Traffic & Transportation Consulting in North Brookfield, summarized the findings detailed in his 134-page traffic impact report.
Mr. Bristol said he studied the current traffic flow and modeled two established motocross parks similar in size to project traffic volume and patterns for SunSet City.
"Generally, a motocross is complimentary to a campground; those two things coincide and reduce the amount of traffic that goes out on the road," he said.
Mr. Bristol said weekend motocross competitions would see roughly 300 cars moving in and out of the site at varying times during the typical two-day event.
Jennifer Conley of Conley Associates Inc. in Boston was hired by the Planning Board to do peer review of Mr. Bristol's traffic study.
In expressing her concerns with the study, Ms. Conley noted the traffic data collected on Brookfield Road the weekend before Christmas did not represent a typical day during peak motocross season.
Mr. Bristol agreed to Ms. Conley's request to conduct a new traffic sampling.

Opposition to the park has been persistent.
Mr. Charette recently petitioned the Zoning Board of Appeals to overturn a ruling by Zoning Enforcement Officer Curtis J. Meskus that a campground and motocross park are permitted uses for the land zoned agricultural.

Earlier this month, the Zoning Board of Appeals heard public arguments on the appeal, and continued its discussion to a meeting set for March 10. The Board of Selectmen held a public forum on Feb. 10 to hear residents' opinions.
"The Board of Selectmen has no authority to say yes this project can go forward, or no this project cannot go forward. That authority lies with the zoning board and with the Planning Board," Selectman Rick C. Swensen said.
At the forum Mr. Charette said the long-range plan to develop other portions of the 150-acre site has positive features, such as public soccer fields and indoor sports facilities. But, he said, motocross sports are a "dealbreaker."
Although the developers have mentioned future plans for other portions of the land, such as car racing, only the campground and motocross park have been submitted for town approval.
The Planning Board is set to meet April 1 to review the project's noise impact.