WESTBOROUGH – Bellows Road continues to be the focus of conversation regarding the Boroughs Islamic Society’s (BIS) plans for a new mosque.
On April 25, the Planning Board continued its public hearing on the site plan application from the BIS, which has purchased the former day-care center at 6 Bellows Road.
The BIS is converting the building and adjoining playground; it will include prayer halls, a babysitting room, a kitchen and a public area.
The playground will be removed in order to create more parking. The BIS is also arranging for additional parking spaces with the post office and adjacent office park.
While the parking situation is close to being resolved, there remains the question of Bellows Road, a narrow, one-way roadway that exits onto East Main Street. Concerns about traffic, especially when the BIS conducts services, led to discussions around ways to mitigate this traffic.
Suggestions included having attendants and a police detail direct traffic after services; installing “right turn only” and “do not block intersection” signs; and to now allow parking on Bellows Road.
Interim Town Planner Jim Robbins recommended that the BIS work with the town engineer to work out a traffic plan.
BIS officials said that once permits are approved and the mosque is open, they could conduct a four-week trial on traffic flow.
The Planning Board voted to continue the public hearing to its next meeting on May 2.
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