WORCESTER, Mass. - A proposal for a large car auction site off Route 20 in Worcester is getting significant pushback from local lawmakers and area residents. The project could add nearly a thousand cars to a section of road some say is already slammed with traffic.

"They're going to change the quality of life for this," said District 3 Councilor George Russell.

A drive through the neighborhoods around Massasoit Road in and you'll be hard pressed not to see signs reading 'Save our neighborhood. Stop CarMax auction house.' The car retailer is proposing to build a 7,100 hundred square foot building and a display lot in the area of 255,000 square feet.


What You Need To Know

  • CarMax has proposed an auction site off of Eskow Rd. in Worcester.

  • City Councilor George Russell says the facility would plan on holding auctions at least once a week, with up to 900 vehicles coming into the lot.

  • Signs have been put up in the neighborhood near Massasoit Rd. pleading for the plans to be stopped.

  • A public input meeting will be held February 10 at Worcester City Hall.

"They've got a storage area that will have about 900 cars for sale," said Russell. "So, you're going to have an auction at least once a week with 900 vehicles going through this building, being auctioned off. And then those 900 vehicles leaving right afterwards, going out onto route 20."

Russell, in collaboration with State Representative Dan Donahue, sharing their concerns in a joint letter. CarMax is proposing to cut down several acres of trees at the end of Eskow Road to accommodate the facility.

Traffic is the biggest area of concern for the lawmakers but not just along Route 20, but in the surrounding area.

"They have emergency access that's supposed to be gated," said Russell. "But who's going to be in charge of making sure the gate's always closed? And that goes right through a single-family residential neighborhood."

It's a similar thought for residents like Eddy Kalinowski, who says traffic and speeding is already a concern, and a plan like this would only make things worse.

"Even just trying to cross the street to get to the park when walking my dog, we've had a couple close calls with cars not wanting to slow down or stop on the crosswalk," Kalinowski said. "Adding more cars to that is going to be certainly a challenge when it comes to walking the dog."

In a statement to Spectrum News 1, CarMax says they believe the proposed site is a 'good fit' for their current growth plan. They go on to say: ""We are aware of the community’s feedback regarding our initial proposal and have diligently worked to incorporate it into our latest proposal which we look forward to presenting to the Zoning Board of Appeals."

"It's a bad plan," Russell said. "And if this developer took the time to talk to the elected officials; myself, Rep. Donahue and others, they would have found that out then."