Dedham Amazon Expansion Proposal Faces Harsh Critiques From Board

DEDHAM, MA — Dedham's Amazon Warehouse at 480 Sprague Street is proposing an expansion into the old Macy's and Restoration Hardware space on the shared lot, but residents have been less than pleased with their corporate neighbor.

Dedham's Planning Board held a string of meetings with Amazon representatives and community members, all of which ran over two hours, and more are planned. Residents and board members haven't held back with their complaints and critiques, mostly of Amazon truck and van drivers.

The proposal is to allow Amazon to use and renovate the remainder of the building at 480 Sprague Street to house Amazon vans. The company currently houses the vans at an offsite garage.

Residents who live along Sprague Street complained about tractor-trailers speeding past, shaking their homes at all hours of the day and night as well as hitting and jumping curbs and rotaries. While residents' main concern is the frequency of Amazon trucks and activity in the area, the proposed expansion doesn't solve that.

According to Amazon's proposal, the same number of trucks and vehicles will be entering and exiting the facility as the current situation. The difference would be the hours when they drive. At an Oct. 1 meeting with the Planning Board, Amazon representatives showed members a breakdown of the average number of trips tractor-trailers take throughout a typical day. The average Amazon truck in Dedham makes 18 trips and 18 trips out of the facility, making a total of 36 trips in one day.

While the number of trips isn't changing, the time frame is. Instead of spreading the trips over three time frames spanning the morning and into late night, the new times would have tractor-trailers driving the majority of their deliveries between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. with some deliveries starting earlier at 4:30 p.m. The switch in times is meant to alleviate any traffic that Amazon contributes to in Dedham and avoid peak commuting hours.

Dedham Planning Board Chair John Bethoney highlighted that while the new schedule may avoid peak hours, it could cause a disruption to residents at night along the route.

Amazon representative Peter Zahka said the proposal is an opportunity for Amazon to address the concerns residents have brought forward.

The Planning Board will hold another follow-up meeting with Amazon on Oct. 28 to continue discussing the traffic study and proposal for the site expansion.