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Safety of Stony Hill and Old Boston roads intersection subject of debate

Date: 4/4/2011

April 4, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

WILBRAHAM — The Traffic Safety Committee considered at its March 30 meeting whether to keep the intersection of Stony Hill and Old Boston roads a three-way stop or convert it to a four-way stop.

Edmond Miga Jr., director of the Department of Public Works (DPW), said from his standpoint, a four-way stop would be functional at that location, but said it could lead to some headaches for the committee.

"There's no technical reason why it could not be a four-way stop, but you're probably going to upset a lot of people," he said.

The intersection currently has stop signs at the location for northbound traffic on Stony Hill Road after it travels under the train bridge, westbound traffic on Old Boston Road and southbound traffic on Bridge Street. Eastbound traffic on Stony Hill Road does not have a stop sign.

While the committee agreed that at times it can be difficult for traffic to get off of Old Boston Road, especially when trying to make a left turn to head southbound on Stony Hill Road, it wasn't clear as to whether or not it was a safety issue.

Police Chief Allen Stratton reported that over the past five years and three months, the intersection has seen 15 accidents. He did not have information regarding the direction of the vehicles in the accident or how many involved large trucks, but said he would look into those factors.

In response to complaints received about the lack visibility and skid resistance on town crosswalks, the safety team has also started looking into new designs for the right of ways across streets for pedestrians in town.

Currently, crosswalks are completely painted with white stripes on either side indicating the width of the crosswalk, while the area between those lines is painted solid yellow.

The committee discussed complaints of the paint becoming faded, as well as criticism that the solid painted crosswalks reduce traction, especially for cars that are turning.

Miga told the committee that in conversations he has had with Palmer Paving Company — a company with which the town has an existing relationship — he learned of an option that could provide the town with better visibility and traction for its crosswalks.

The option involves milling the road surface at the crosswalk's location and filling the milled area with colored pavement. Lines could be painted on either side of the crosswalk for increased reflectivity if the town chose to do so.

He said he did not know what colors Palmer Paving offers and also did not know what the approximate cost to the town would be, but suggested there could be long-term savings because the colored pavement would be more durable and would not need to be repainted every year like the current crosswalks required. He told the committee he would continue to gather more information.

Stratton suggested what he believed would be a more cost-effective plan by altering the way the crosswalks are painted. He suggested the town do away with the solid painted crosswalks and instead paint "Abbey Road" style ones, referring to the style of crosswalk on the famous Beatles album cover, which consists of a series of horizontal lines across the roadway.

He said that kind of crosswalk would increase the traction in intersections by having less of the surface painted, while still providing reflectivity without an added expense to the town.



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