Cape Cod Commission presents draft Falmouth Complete Streets prioritization plan; public comment open through Feb. 16

At a Cape Cod Commission-hosted public meeting for the town of Falmouth (date not specified in the transcript), Steven Tupper, deputy director at the Cape Cod Commission, introduced a draft Complete Streets prioritization plan and encouraged residents to review the web-based project map and submit feedback.

Colleen Maderos of the Cape Cod Commission said the plan is intended to identify future multimodal projects ‘‘that provide safe and accessible options for all travel modes’’ including walking, biking, transit and vehicles. She described the plan as the second tier of the MassDOT Complete Streets process: after a town adopts a Complete Streets policy (tier 1) and develops a prioritization plan (tier 2), it may apply for construction grants under tier 3.

Why it matters: Inclusion on the prioritization list makes a project eligible for MassDOT construction grants (roughly $400,000 per award cycle), which towns may use for implementation. The draft prioritization list for Falmouth contains 50 projects, drawn from more than 300 public suggestions and a June public survey that ranked safety-related projects highest.

Key facts and next steps: James McLaughlin, Falmouth town engineer, told attendees that the current draft list includes 50 projects and noted recent Town Meeting approval of $150,000 toward Complete Streets work. Maderos showed the project map and spreadsheet deliverable that documents project descriptions, limits, costs, benefits and readiness. She said the draft will be open for public comment for about one month and the town aims to submit a final plan to MassDOT by April 1; construction grant applications may be submitted starting May 1 (two cycles per year: May 1 and Oct. 1).

Top projects highlighted: The presentation called out the Catherine Lee Bates shared-use path (including a proposed rapid rectangular flashing beacon on Route 28), intersection improvements at Brickhill Road and Sandwich Road, the Jones Road at Gifford project, an extension of the Shining Sea Bikeway to Bourne and upgrades at Route 151 and Boxberry Hill. Several projects clustered around schools were noted for crosswalk and beacon upgrades.

Limitations and eligibility: Maderos noted that a subset of listed projects (items 44–50) are on state-owned roadways (for example, Route 28 and Route 28A) and therefore are not eligible for the MassDOT $400,000 construction grants, but were included in the draft for town awareness and long-term planning.

Public engagement: The project team received approximately 300 suggestions during an earlier mapping exercise and more than 300 responses to a June survey; those inputs informed the five-point evaluation criteria used to rank projects (safety; mobility; access; ease of implementation/readiness; and project support). Attendees were told the interactive project map and the full spreadsheet are available at capecodcommission.org/Falmouthcompletestreets and the public comment period remains open through Feb. 16.

What officials requested: The meeting moved into breakout rooms for detailed discussion and follow-up; staff offered to answer project-specific questions after breakout sessions and to accept additional written comments via the online survey.

The meeting did not include formal votes or action on individual projects; it was a staff presentation and public engagement session intended to finalize the draft for submission to MassDOT.