Agawam residents object to proposed intersection changes as danger to Pajer’s

A makeshift sign across from Pajer Superette, at the corner of Cooper and Rowley streets, reflects the community’s concern for the business’s future if intersection is redesigned.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen

AGAWAM — In theory, redesigning the intersection of Cooper, Suffield and Rowley streets will improve safety, but the reality may mean the end for a mainstay of the community.

The proposed changes will narrow lanes, create bump-outs to calm traffic and require moving the free-standing sign at the Mobil Station.

But of concern to many of those in the packed room at the April 21 City Council meeting, the plan would require the city to take a portion of the parking lot of Pajer’s Superette to create a sidewalk. One-by-one, nearly a dozen people stepped up to the microphone to protest the proposal.

Pajer’s owner, Alfred Pajer, was the first to speak. He said his family’s shop, a small building with a half-dozen parking spaces in front and another handful in the back, has operated on Cooper Street for almost 70 years. Losing an estimated one-third of the parking spaces means losing one-third of the customers, he said. Elderly people who park in front of the market because they cannot walk far would stop shopping there, he said. Choking up, he added that the store would have to close.

“I’m willing to work with the town, but they have to work with me,” Pajer said, choking up. With his grandson and family next to him, he told the council that his property would also be worth less. Pajer thanked the scores of people who attended the meeting to support him.

Some residents tried to poke holes in the logic of the redesign. One person said the narrower lanes would make it more difficult for emergency vehicles to fit through. Another resident predicted there would not be any oversight of the project. William Clark objected to the changes slowing down traffic. Gesturing to the crowd of concerned residents, he paraphrased language from the application, “Does it look like they ‘worked with everyone to optimize design?’”

Jenna Edmonds, an employee at Pajer’s, described the owners and her co-workers as family. She recalled her mother shopping there with her and her sibling in a stroller. She suggested the town invest the money in the schools instead.

“I think the main thing, right here, right now, is to save Pajer’s market,” said Jay Hammon. He suggested that, instead of taking part of the Pajer’s parking lot, the town use the “giant piece of land across the street that’s not being utilized.” That land is also owned by Pajer.

The council unanimously voted to table whether to take the land until after an April 27 workshop on the matter at which they can ask questions.

“We weren’t getting any answers, so it’s probably a good thing,” Pajer said about the workshop. “It’s very hard. There’s a lot of things I could have brought up that they didn’t give me time to bring up.” He said, “I’ve got a lot of people, friends, customers — they’re not really customers; people don’t get it. People have been coming in for three generations.”

Pajer said that his business is a distributor and, as such, large trucks deliver pallets of products to the shop. If he loses some of the parking lot, the trucks will not fit, he said, adding, “They don’t have to put 40 feet of sidewalk in that nobody uses.”

Later, City Council President Anthony Russo spoke with Reminder Publishing. He said the land taking is the first step in the planning process. If the council votes to take the land, the project will then go to the Planning Board.

“I’ve known Mr. Pajer my whole life,” Russo said. “His son is a childhood friend of mine. I have met several times with the Pajer family. I’ve met with the mayor. I gave him my two cents on how we can make it a better project.”

Russo said, “We need to be business friendly… We have to be able to work with our businesses and come to a way that’s going to be done where they feel safe, secure and they can go on to be financially secure.” He said more changes can be made to the plans which were drafted by Agawam’s Engineering Department.

The project is being funded, in part, by a $1 million grant from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Community Mitigation Fund. Russo explained that grants from the fund can only be used on projects that address the impact MGM Springfield has had on Agawam. The city applied for the funding grant to redesign the intersection, as Suffield Street is a major route from Connecticut into downtown Springfield. It cannot be redirected to any other projects, he said.