Minutes
Public Ways Safety Committee
Bolton, Massachusetts
October 27, 2010
Members present: Leslie Breeze, Mary Ciummo, Rob Hagopian, Deborah Kellett, Tom Kittler, Peter Ross. Guest: Chief of Police, Vincent Alfano
Minutes from the September 8th and October 13th meetings were approved and accepted.
Meeting was held at new Public Safety building, in the Training Room. Chief Alfano invited PWSC to use the room for meetings at their pleasure. Contact Lorraine Kenny at the PD to reserve room.
Yield to Stop: Final report of PWSC recommendations on changing signage at certain intersections was presented to Chief Alfano and the findings and recommendations discussed.
- Implementation: Chief Alfano will follow up with recommended changes with which Police concur. Budget constraints will most likely mean at least some delays in implementation.
- Priority intersections: At least two of the intersections have inconsistencies between signage and road painting, making for potential enforcement problems and these were highlighted (Danforth @ Hudson, Sargeant @ Wattaquadoc and possibly Chase @ Wattaquadoc).
Fog lines: Impact of budget constraints on fog lines discussed. Noted that PWSC has offered to support DPW requests (in person and/or writing) at any budget meetings regarding this issue.
Impact of Public Safety Center on Main @ Wattaquadoc traffic: Chief Alfano stated that the move of the Police to new building doesn’t seem to have negatively effected this intersection.
- The shift in location has actually seemed to make egress easier and safer for police vehicles.
- There has been an apparent increase in the use of sirens at the intersection and Chief Alfano will see if the use of sirens can be reduced without compromising safety.
Fire Whistle/Siren: Brief discussion as to whether the old Fire Whistle/Siren could be restored. It had been sounded at noon and to signal fires during daytimes.
- Siren is no longer needed as a safety feature, but the sound was a familiar one to residents and of some historical significance.
- Chief Alfano will inquire as to potential costs to restore/replace the unit.
Movables: It was noted that the moveable crosswalk markers have been spending more and more time on the side of the road or missing altogether.
- Discussion centered on the cost/benefit ratio of the devices. Chief Alfano felt that maintaining the movables (i.e. repair, placement and replacement) was sufficiently costly that it outweighed any traffic calming benefit. He stated that he felt this position was shared by DPW.
- One possible solution to be further discussed would be to retire the movables, and use the money that has been going to re-purchase and repair to paint more highly visible crosswalks and paint at least twice a year. Existing movables would still be placed near crosswalks, but at the roadside. Once existing supply was declared unusable, no more would be purchased.
Smith Property Future: The possible effect on traffic of potential development of Smith property was touched upon briefly. Since the Main @ Wattaquadoc intersection is already graded as a failed or nearly failed intersection in previous traffic studies, any increase in traffic without significant mitigation could pose major safety issues.
No Parking Signs: There was general agreement that the installation of permanent No Parking signs along a short section of Green Road (from Main, going toward Harvard) near Nashoba was warranted.
- Temporary No Parking signs are often installed here, and the situation would seem to justify some permanent installations.
- Chief Alfano will draft a proposal with specific locations and number of signs for the BOS. PWSC indicated a willingness to support this proposal.
Traffic Rules and Orders: Issue was raised as to what constitutes legal publication of any changes to the Traffic Rules and Orders. Hard copy publication is expensive, so that changing signage results in a relatively large expense. Chief Alfano will follow up as to whether or not the legal requirements of publication can be met by an announcement on the Town’s official website.
Timing, Traffic Light at Main and Sugar: East and west bound lights are set to different timed intervals, which can make for a potentially dangerous situation for those east bound who are attempting a left turn onto Sugar.
- The Commonwealth controls these lights and their representatives have been out twice to check the timing. Their primary concern is traffic flow on Rte. 495 and they set the lights to favor that flow. The last time they checked the timing they indicated that they were satisfied and were not inclined to change it.
- Currently the light cycles to red for eastbound traffic while remaining green for westbound traffic. Turning vehicles can get ‘caught’ in the intersection on the yellow, setting up a potentially unsafe situation in which an east bound vehicle might turn across west bound traffic, not realizing that the west bound traffic still has a green light. Chief Alfano will explore the situation further.
Bolton Manor on Sugar: Resumption of permitting process for this 40B was discussed. Agreed that situation needs close monitoring given the location and density of the proposed development.
Line of Sight Bylaw: Peter Ross gave Chief Alfano an update on current status of the proposal.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
The next meeting is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Wednesday, November 10, 2010.
Minutes submitted by Deborah Kellett
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