Concord panel reviews revised MCI site traffic plan

Other Committee · Meeting of August 6, 2026

Concord's MCI Master Plan Committee reviewed a reworked site design for the former MCI-Concord property, scrapping a planned rotary for two signalized intersections. Consultant Jeff of Speck Dempsey told the committee the change responds to recurring Commonwealth Avenue backups and said retail space could nearly double, from about 50,000 to 90,000 square feet. Stantec transportation planner Liza Cohen said Department of Public Works trips alone were estimated at 15 inbound and 41 outbound vehicles at peak, "similar order of magnitude" to the firm's broader trip-generation modeling.

Members debated whether a second access point, possibly via Winthrop Street, should be a legal contingency for any future zoning article, with one member saying "I personally don't think the project works unless there's an access point." The committee approved its July 23 minutes as amended, with one abstention, and took no other votes. Resident Liz told the board during public comment, "I would consider getting more retail and less hotel."

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of August 6, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.