MONTAGUE CENTER — With a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt construction on a portion of North Street as part of the Montague Center Complete Streets project denied by a Franklin County Superior Court judge, work at the embattled intersection has finished.
Attorney John McNally, on behalf of plaintiffs Deborah Snow and Barbara White, who reside at 39 Main St. and have a driveway that exits onto North Street, had sought the injunction to halt construction on North Street in front of their home. However, in his Oct. 20 decision, Franklin County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Groce III explained that the plaintiffs weren’t successful in proving their likelihood of success based on the merits of the case, nor that irreparable harm would come if the injunction was denied.
“Because both of the plaintiffs’ claims fail at the first prong of the preliminary injunction analysis, the requested injunction is not warranted,” Groce wrote.
With no preliminary injunction in place, Montague Town Administrator Walter Ramsey confirmed that construction in the area of the North Street and Main Street intersection has been completed. The rest of the project was able to progress regardless of the legal action against the town.
At the North and Main streets intersection, there is now a 90-degree single connection, intended to improve safety for cyclists and allow for safer turns, as discussed during previous meetings. Other changes include raised crosswalks along Main Street, flashing beacons to alert drivers of pedestrians and a marked bike lane.
“The town is pleased to have delivered this long-awaited traffic safety improvement project in Montague Center, consistent with the design developed by our consulting traffic engineer,” Ramsey said via email.
Efforts to reach Snow and White were unsuccessful by press time on Wednesday.
The Complete Streets project is a roadway construction project the town of Montague has nearly completed, using a $500,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for construction. The scope of work evolved through two design iterations, with the first design brought to the public in September 2024 by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, followed by the second by Bowman Engineering in January 2026.
The latest design was contested by the plaintiffs, whose driveway would be altered as part of the work through a 31-foot extension, bisecting a greenway to connect it to Main Street. McNally’s motion, filed in late August, argued that the plaintiffs would likely succeed in trial, alleging the town did not follow state law regarding Town Meeting requirements or notice to abutters.
The plaintiffs argued the “entire character of their home and property” could be changed, and that they did not receive sufficient answers from the town about the project’s impact. The argument also stated that the town could revert back to using its previous design, which did not include the alterations that the plaintiffs objected to.
The town responded to the complaint via its legal counsel on Sept. 14, stating that the plaintiffs did not met the criteria for seeking injunctive relief. Its argument was that the plaintiffs did not have the right to demand public ways abutting their property stay in their original design forever; there was no discontinuance of a public way occurring that would require a Town Meeting vote or notice to abutters; and if the plaintiffs were entitled to notice about the Complete Streets project, they received it, citing the communications between Montague and the plaintiffs.
During a court hearing in September, a conference to review status was set for Monday, Nov. 16. Although the preliminary injunction to halt construction was denied, the case itself is still open and the next hearing remains scheduled.
