MONTAGUE — Montague Center residents are concerned about a dangerous curve on Main Street.
Residents spoke to the Selectboard this week about the concerns they have for the intersection of School Street and Court Square. The town discussed short-term solutions to the problem of speeding in that area, before a more permanent solution, dependent on the approval of the Complete Streets Project from the state Department of Transportation, can be decided.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Thomas Bergeron said the DPW will use a flail mower to cut back vegetation on the backsides of the guardrails, some of which has grown over the sidewalks. He also talked about other short-term solutions that can be implemented before the Complete Streets repairs are approved for the town.
Bergeron said as far as vegetation on sidewalks is concerned, he will have the DPW attend to it on Wednesday.
“I can send a flail over tomorrow morning and cut back on the backside of the guardrails for 4 or 5 feet to get any hanging brush from over the guardrail, and then, basically clean up the sidewalks a little more so there aren’t trip hazards; that’ll help some sight line,” Bergeron said.
He also added he would put up orange cones along the corner and add fluorescent green pedestrian signs, if the DPW has any.
Montague Police Chief Chris Williams said that while he recognizes when drivers come off Court Square and onto School Street, there are obstructing shrubs that make it difficult to see, there isn’t much that can be done, because the shrubs are on private property.
Williams said the police department will maintain the level of patrols to the area to enforce the speed limit. Williams said since he has taken over as acting chief, he’s had officers log every stop and citation in designated “hot spots” in town, one of which is Main Street in Montague Center.
Williams said over the last 10 years, there have been a total of five accidents by the curve. Three of the accidents were caused by snow or icy conditions, one was because of wet leaves, and the other for taking the corner too wide or too loose, but he reported there was minimal damage in those accidents.
The town anticipates the short-term solutions will lead to long-term ones that are in place by next summer.
Town Planner Walter Ramsey updated the town on the long-term solution to the problems in Montague Center.
Ramsey said because the Town of Montague participates in the Complete Street program, “The town is able to apply for funding to improve our streets as a whole system, to do sidewalks and bike paths, those types of projects. Last Thursday, the town submitted an application to the state for $400,000-worth of improvements throughout town and about $175,000 is being directed toward Montague Center and the Main Street section.”
He said the scope of the project is to replace sidewalks between the library area and the bridge over the Saw Mill River, replace all the existing sidewalks on both sides of the road, to make a concrete sidewalk up to 5 feet in width and to put concrete curbing on the sidewalks so they will be elevated from the roadway. There will be a radar speed feedback sign in the area, similar to the one by the Book Mill.
“It is also going to add crosswalks around Court Square and School Street to make it clearer for pedestrians and to direct traffic better,” Ramsey said. “It will also extend the sidewalk on the side of Main Street that Court Square and School Street are on — a few hundred feet on the opposite side, where there is sidewalk, we will be putting a safe crossing for pedestrians, which will be properly signed and marked.”
Ramsey said that project was listed as the top priority in the town’s application to the state. He said the town hopes to hear back from the state within three months, and the hope is that construction will begin by next summer.
Hannah Fuller-Boswell said she feels one solution to the tight corner on Main Street would be stop signs coming from both directions.
“We should have a stop sign (on the corner) so that people have to stop and be able to see around the corner, and another stop sign (from the opposite direction) so that people have to stop and see Court Square,” Fuller-Boswell said. “I know that a suggestion was made that would cause more accidents, and it will cause more noise, and it will cause the yahoos to peel out faster, but on balance, I believe if we had a four-way stop, it would slow things down.”
Diana Allen said she agrees there needs to be stop signs at the intersection.
“From those of us who have been living in town for 20 years or longer, we are observing constantly,” Allen said. “This is why we have come up with the ideas we have proposed to you, and I feel like the best way to slow people down is to stop them; perhaps as a temporary solution, before the spring, we could try to put stop signs.”
She added that if the town wants people to go the speed limit in that area — posted at 25 mph — the stop signs will help to prevent speeding.
Another proposal from Fuller-Boswell was reflective flexible delineators along the corner by the sidewalk. But, Bergeron said he believes the delineators would be knocked over, because cars cut corners, and they will constantly need to be replaced.
“I understand a person is far more important but on my side of things that’s very costly,” Bergeron said.
Fuller-Boswell said the delineators are “right on the other side of where the humans are, so if they are hitting those, it will make them aware.”
Emily Monosson, another resident, said she agrees the cones will be knocked over within a day.
“That just speaks to this problem,” Monosson said. “I’ve been here for 20 years and we’ve been asking for this for 20 years. It’s been a problem for a long time. With the delineators, if we could get four of them just to put around that corner, we could take out a fund to see if people will pay for this.”