*** WATCH *** Residents Harangue Barnstable Council as...

HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS — Residents harangued the Barnstable Town Council last night over a controversial remake of downtown streets, delivering a string of passionate, critical comments as construction on the project got underway. Hyannis News spoke early yesterday morning with John Julius and Eric Schwaab, who have launched a petition calling for a halt until there is full public discussion of the plan’s potential ramifications before the work locks in. They say they have already gathered more than 960 signatures from Hyannis merchants and community members. (Please see second video below for interview with Julius and Schwaab)

The plan would convert one-way roads—Main Street and South Street—to two-way traffic and add a roundabout to at least one busy intersection at South Street and Ocean Street, an area teeming with summer foot traffic. Construction commenced yesterday, according to a town media statement, and is expected to last a couple of years—likely longer, according to others. That timeline is already raising alarms in a town where many major roadways are already torn up and several projects have run well past schedule.

The issue drew extensive discussion during the public-comment segment of last evening’s council meeting. Many residents attended; many others were unable to because of time constraints. Hyannis News intercepted town video of those comments. (See first video below.) The overwhelming majority opposed the project; only a few spoke in favor. Speakers pressed the council on quality of life, on whether officials were listening, and on what they described as a deeper breakdown in how the town handles major changes.

“Where is our quality of life?” one resident demanded. Another told the council, “You are not listening to us.” Transparency was singled out as “one of the bigger issues.” A further speaker concluded, “Something is broken in our town.”

The petition and the public comments together frame the street conversion not merely as a traffic redesign but as a decision residents say was advanced without adequate debate—now that shovels are already in the ground. [DEVELOPING]

[HYANNIS NEWS INTERCEPTION OF TOWN “PUBLIC COMMENT” VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]