Traffic Safety Team addresses concerns on Stony Hill Road

Date: 2/6/2012

Feb. 6, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

WILBRAHAM — The Wilbraham Traffic Safety Team met on Feb. 5 to discuss a letter of complaint received regarding the dangerousness of the entrance to the Wilbraham Middle School on Stony Hill Road, but found no cause for drastic action to be taken.

Town Administrator Robert Weitz said the letter included a request to install a traffic light at the intersection, a move the team thought to be an expensive proposition, especially for a location that has not had a large number of incidents.

“After a database search for the last two years, we’ve conducted 58 traffic posts at that location resulting in 12 tickets,” Police Chief Roger Tucker said. “We’ve had one accident at that school and it was a parking lot accident where someone pulling out of a parking space turned too sharply and clipped the car next to them.”

Tucker did say that last year there were complaints about visibility for motorists attempting to exit onto Stony Hill Road, but those issues have been addressed.

“Last year the complaints were that there were bushes you couldn’t see through, so we addressed that with the school department,” Tucker said. “[The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD)] has done everything we’ve asked them to do and took the bushes out of there so you can see the traffic coming north now.”

The letter also expressed concerns with the disregard of state laws that require motorists to stop at crosswalks, such as the one in front of the school’s entrance, but Tucker said he has not received any complaints from the crossing guards posted at that location.

He also noted that HWRSD has recently updated its equipment, such as signs and vests for the crossing guards to make them more visible.

Tucker said that while some drivers may not be courteous while attempting to enter or exit the school, impolite driving is not necessarily a crime.

“There’s nothing we can do about the lack of courtesy,” he said. “Lack of courtesy is not governed by laws unless it breaks them.”

The Department of Public Works agreed to evaluate the signage at the location to make sure it is properly placed and visible and Tucker said the police would continue to conduct traffic posts at that location “as manpower warrants.”