Letter: Hearing the New Rotary

By Guest

Dear Canton residents:

I bet you’ve seen it, but have you heard the new rotary? I live right next to it, and believe me, I hear it 24/7. Overnight, the rotary has turned my sweet neighborhood into a loud and tense place to live.

How will you know if you’ve heard the rotary? Listen for the sound of honking car horns at all hours as drivers attempt to navigate this poorly designed intersection. Hang out at Devoll Field to hear the airbrakes and feel the big thumping vibrations as tractor trailers drive over the rotary borders in order to pass through a curve that is too sharp for their vehicles to make the turn. You might get really lucky and see a semi get stuck and go the wrong way through the rotary in order to pass through the intersection! (This is recorded on my camera phone if you’d like to see it.)

If you are a horn honker, please don’t take your rage at this “selectmen’s folly” out on your fellow drivers! The design of the intersection makes it very difficult for anyone to tell who is turning onto Bolivar Street or Lincolnshire Drive and who is going straight on Pleasant Street. The driver of the car in front of you has no idea if it is safe to turn into the rotary until there is no oncoming traffic. Your displeasure should be directed at our Board of Selectmen, who voted unanimously to plop this nightmare into a space that is much too small for it. Despite multiple standing-room-only meetings where the overwhelming majority of public response was against the rotary, the will of the people of Canton was completely disregarded.

If your regular commute requires you to use the rotary, vote on April 7! Town records show that there had been zero recorded accidents at the intersection before the traffic pattern was deemed unsafe. There have been two accidents and four recorded complaints within the first six weeks of construction, and I’ve personally witnessed many extremely close calls in the past two months through my living room windows. As other letter writers to this paper have observed, it is only a matter of time before someone gets badly hurt.

Every time you sit in a long line of cars waiting to drive through the rotary, need to honk your horn or have a close call, please make a promise to yourself to vote on April 7. Show your dismay about this unnecessary and dangerous rotary by filling the two open selectmen seats with new people. The taxpayers of Canton deserve to be represented by selectmen who will follow the will of the people who elected them.

It’s too late for me and my neighbors — hopefully it’s not too late for you! Vote for new selectmen on April 7 to keep your neighborhoods peaceful and pleasant.

Sincerely,

Maureen Wallbeoff

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