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Date: 5/10/2023
LONGMEADOW — Traffic calming techniques were the main topic of discussion at the May 1 Longmeadow Select Board meeting. More than a dozen residents of Ellington Street and Farmington Avenue spoke before the board regarding traffic lines that had been painted on a portion of Ellington Street.
On April 21, Ellington Street, which had previously had no markings, received white lines denoting the edges of the road and a double solid yellow stripe down the center, visually creating one lane in either direction.
Resident Lori Burroughs said the street markings had a “clear and detrimental impact” on the “character” of the neighborhood. She said the line signaled that the street is a “town-sanctioned cut-through artery,” and said on-street parking means vehicles now must encroach into the other lane. She also said that the lines reduce property values, with homes on Converse Street selling for about $100,000 less than on the side streets.
Resident Rob Durfee noted that the issue had brought “practically our entire neighborhood together.” He called the striping, “highway lines.” He agreed with Burroughs that they damage the character of the street. He also objected to the work being done at night and said there was no notification of the intent to line the street. Durfee questioned the traffic count from a 2018 study and said he did not believe the statistic that 85% of traffic on Ellington Street no faster than 35.1 mph. If that is true, he said the speed on the 30 mph street should be lowered to 25 mph.
A Farmington Avenue resident agreed with Durfee that traffic data for the neighborhood was incorrect. She said vehicles slow down when they see police cars or electronic speed signs. Town Manager Lyn Simmons later explained that speed is calculated using thin black tubes that run across a street and measure the frequency and speed at which vehicles pass over them.
Hazel Keene, an 11-year-old resident of Ellington Street, said she and her friends bike to school and traffic on Ellington Street is dangerous for them and neighborhood dogs. She noted the lines make the street “look like a highway” and that car seemed to drive faster.
Resident Ryan McManus a designer at Ford Motor Company, said, “Speed is about perception on a street” and that “double yellow lines are used to separate high speed traffic in both directions.” He asked the town to consider different speed abatement techniques.
Simmons said that the lines were part of a traffic calming attempt, but that the town had failed to follow its policy, which would have asked neighbors for input and submitted a report to the Select Board for approval. She apologized for the oversight and said it was due to a lack of institutional knowledge, as the policy was passed several years ago before her time with the town.
She explained that after receiving traffic complaints regarding Ellington Street and Farmington Avenue in October 2022, the “unofficial” traffic committee, which consists of herself, DPW Director Sean Van Deusen, Police Chief Robert Stocks and Fire Chief John Dearborn, discussed the issue. She emphasized that the committee was not created by the Select Board and is not subject to Open Meeting Law. The first step was to place speed signs to deter motorists from speeding. Because this did not work, the committee decided in February to add lines to the streets while striping work was being done elsewhere in town.
Simmons said this type of road work is always performed at night to maximize safety and lower the risk of vehicles driving over the paint before it is dry. Stocks added that the striping was not done “surreptitiously.”
Road markings “have been proved to calm traffic. They visually reduce the travel lane,” Simmons said. She added that construction nearby may be the cause for an increase in traffic in the past week or two. Simmons said the plan had been to conduct an updated traffic study to measure the impact of the lines.
“To me, we have to reset here and get rid of these lines and start again,” said Select Board Chair Josh Levine. He also said the existing policy is “internally contradictory” and vague about certain details. “Whatever we do, people are not going to be happy,” he added.
Select Board member Mark Gold said that “a bunch” of streets are “cut throughs.” He opined that the issues must be addressed comprehensively, noting that if one street is made a dead end to address traffic, it will move to another street.
Select Board member Dan Zwirko supported painting over the lines and praised Simmons for “owning up to” her mistake and not following the policy.
Gold said the money was spent on painting lines and he did not want the town to spend more money removing or painting over the lines, only to have the proper traffic calming process reveal that painted lines are the best remedy for speeding.
“You might find out that nothing’s going to work, and you just have to deal with [traffic], if you don’t want lines,” Levine said. “It doesn’t matter what data we find. They don’t want the lines.”
Commenting on the “highway” look of the double solid yellow lines, Stocks explained that a single solid line is not compliant with regulations and dotted lines indicate a passing area. He said drivers would not be pulled over for touching the center lines to avoid parked cars.
Stocks agreed that it changed the aesthetic of the street and said he prefers “raised tables,” formerly known as speed bumps, but said they make noise when cars travel for them.
Select Board member Vineeth Hemavathi said he would like to hear options on the best way to remove the lines and slow speeders. Simmons noted that applying another coat of paint over the lines generally will not hold up to plowing and weather. She said grinding the lines out of the road is the preferred method.
The board approved the removal of the lines, blocked planned lining of Farmington Avenue and requested an updated traffic study, as the last one is five years old.
The board then discussed traffic in front of Center School, specifically whether the portion of Longmeadow Street from Longfellow Drive to William Street should be open to one-way traffic only During school hours. Stocks said residents exiting the side streets south of Center School often take a left to avoid the school during pickup and drop-off times. If the entire street is a one-way street, Stock said the question is how to enforce that “do we get signage pollution where at the exit of every side street are we to erect everyone was fine with the small lettering” denoting the hours, he asked.
He said he would prefer to keep the one-way section limited to the space between Longfellow Drive and Williams Street and “not send more traffic toward the school.” He also said the legality of a “finite” one-way restriction should be explored.
Levine suggested the Select Board should host a public hearing on the matter, while Board memnber Thomas Lachiusa suggested the school instruct families on the surrounding traffic patterns. However, Levine pointed out that if the rules are not yet clear, the school cannot be expected to inform parents. He asked that the traffic committee review the issue.
Simmons commented that the topics discussed during the meeting beg the question, “Who is the traffic committee?” She suggested that some of the answers to the questions raised of the leading could be found in the town’s traffic policies, which have been made searchable from the town’s website.