Master Planning

BETA has successfully led Comprehensive and Master Plans and prepared Transportation, Open Space and Recreation, Public Facilities, and Sustainability and Resiliency elements for several communities throughout New England.

For each municipality, BETA completed an inventory of Existing Conditions which consisted of obtaining existing data and information from the municipality and other agencies, interviews of key municipal staff, site visits and observations, and public outreach efforts. Transportation-specific elements included traffic, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes; vehicle classification; roadway classification; crash data; pavement conditions; transit; and US census travel characteristics. The information and data were summarized to identify the current resources and conditions, issues, and opportunities within each municipality.

BETA coordinated with municipal staff and master plan steering committees throughout each process. BETA staff attended and helped facilitate public forums where the public identified issues and future goals for the towns.

Based on input from public outreach efforts and steering committees, BETA developed goals, actions, and strategies for each element of the plans. Strategies included improving connectivity for walking and biking between neighborhoods, improving safety for all modes of transportation, neighborhood traffic calming, stimulating economic development, providing sewer connections, improving municipal buildings and promoting Green technology, expanding and protecting open space and recreations facilities, and providing sustainable and resilient practices. Strategies were developed for short-, mid-, and long-term time periods. The master plan documents included an Implementation Plan which identified timelines and responsibilities for completing the master plan actions.

Our team has assisted the following communities with their master plans: Hingham, Ipswich, Medfield, Mansfield, Mashpee, Tisbury, Walpole, MA; Coventry, RI; and Derry, NH, which received the New Hampshire Master Plan of the Year award in 2021 from the New Hampshire Planning Association. In 2021, BETA completed Local Rapid Recovery Plans for nine communities as part of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development program. In addition, BETA has conducted various transportation and Smart Growth plans including:

• Arlington, MA Sustainable Transportation Plan
• Amesbury, MA Merrimack River Smart Growth District
• Mansfield, MA Transit-Oriented Development Planning
• North Andover, MA Downtown Plan
• Franklin, MA Transportation Master Plan
• West Haven, CT Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan