Roundabout approved amid heavy opposition

Amid heavy opposition from area residents, selectmen on Tuesday night upheld their earlier June vote and decided to go ahead with the proposed roundabout project on Pleasant Street, estimated to cost between $200,000 and $300,000.

Selectmen were impressed with the report of professional traffic engineer Gary McNaughton of McMahon and Associates, who they had hired to review the initial engineering and traffic studies. McNaughton found the intersection of Pleasant Street, Bolivar Street and Lincolnshire Drive to be substandard and in need of a redesign.

McNaughton said he has opposed roundabouts in the past but believes a roundabout at this location would slow traffic and increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Tuesday night’s public meeting was the sixth that had been held on this project since the beginning of June and also the heaviest attended, with more than 50 residents packing the meeting and two police officers present outside the Salah Meeting Room at Town Hall.

The newest change in the plans from Tuesday night’s meeting involves the addition of up to three pedestrian flashing lights and more crosswalks in the area.

McNaughton said he reviewed hundreds of intersections and found this particular intersection to be substandard. While making several technical revisions to the plans, McNaughton concluded that the DPW’s design is much safer than the present design and will slow traffic.

“The intersection will operate more efficiently,” he said. “The intersection needs improvement. There are a number of safety deficiencies now.”

McNaughton conducted his own traffic analysis on Tuesday, September 9 — the date of the State Primary election — after meeting with Pleasant Street resident Matt Osborne, who felt that the initial traffic study had been severely flawed. McNaughton said on September 9, traffic volume was 15 percent greater than what appeared in the initial study and found instances where motorists were traveling five to seven miles per hour past the posted speed limit of 30 mph.

While he appreciated the efforts of McNaughton, Osborne said the traffic analysis should have been done during a regular Tuesday-through-Thursday period and not on Primary day. “My bigger issue is the community was not engaged in the planning process,” Osborne said. “The community should have been engaged well before the decision was made.”

The lone support for the selectmen’s decision came from a Lincolnshire Drive resident, who praised selectmen for taking a proactive stance with regard to traffic and pedestrian safety.

Henry Krueger of Pleasant Circle heavily criticized selectmen for the decision, saying he didn’t attend the initial meetings because he never thought they would follow through with the idea. “There is nothing wrong with this intersection,” he said. “How could you come up with this cockamamie plan, which makes no sense?”

Steve Ryan of Pleasant Street said he did not see the traffic data or beneficial impact to Pleasant Street that would lead him to support the plan. Mike Bertelletti of Bolivar Street said he has both lived and delivered mail in the area for 45 years. “I have never seen an accident in this area,” he said. “I have talked to police. There have never been delays unless they are working on the street.”

Paving on Pleasant Street from Andrea Drive to the Bolivar Street intersection began last Thursday, and Selectmen Chairman Victor Del Vecchio said work on the roundabout should begin very soon.

See this week’s Canton Citizen for more highlights from the September 16 selectmen’s meeting.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=26891

Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 18 2014. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.