Chelmsford committee backs $300,000 for Fynale Square road design at town meeting

CHELMSFORD — September 29, 2025 — Chelmsford's Fynale Square Strategic Action Plan Committee unanimously backed a $300,000 fall town meeting appropriation to advance road design for two North Chelmsford projects. Community Development Director Evan Volansky told the committee the money would fund continued 25 percent design work for the Fynale Square intersection — on the state Transportation Improvement Program for fiscal year 2028 — and the Route 3A corridor between Richardson Road and Technology Drive, which could reach construction after fiscal year 2030. Volansky noted MassDOT has added a new and "quite costly" utility survey requirement within its own right-of-way before approving the design. State Representative Rodney Elliott offered to pursue trail and watershed grant funding to support a parallel volunteer effort to restore the deteriorating river trail at Southwell Conservation Area, which trail advocate David Sperry said has been fully overgrown near the ball fields. The committee's beautification fund stands at approximately $5,600 with no current replenishment mechanism in place.