Link back to Traffic Committee Meeting Minutes
Police Chief Taylor A.B. Mills, Chairman
Sgt. David Horte, Representative for Chief Mills
Lt. John Haley, Representative for Chief Mark Duff
Harry Sylvester, DPW
Paul K. Healey, Planning Board
Leslie Kehoe
Harold Goldstein
Scott Peterson
TO: Board of Selectmen
FROM: Chief Taylor Mills
RE: Minutes of September 22, 2010 – Traffic Committee Meeting
DATE: September 23, 2010
PRESENT: John Haley, Lieutenant, Hingham Fire Department
David Horte, Sergeant, Hingham Police Department
Harry Sylvester, Hingham DPW
Paul K. Healey, Hingham Planning Board
Leslie Kehoe
Harold Goldstein
Scott Peterson
Sgt. Horte called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
A motion was made by Harold Goldstein, seconded by Harry Sylvester, to accept the minutes of the previous meeting on 7/28/10. Unanimous vote in favor. The Traffic Committee welcomed its newest member, Scott Peterson and wished to extend its thanks to the service rendered by Philip Resca whose term expired.
I. Kilby and Summer Street Intersection
Deirdre Anderson of Old Colony Road submitted a letter to Sgt. Horte requesting
the installation of a crosswalk at Kilby and Summer Streets in the interest of
pedestrian safety and in light of the fact that it is on a walking route to East
Elementary School. Sgt. Horte visited the site and it was determined that all
criteria necessary to install a crosswalk are in place (safe landing zones, sidewalks
on both sides of the road, lines of sight, etc.) which was verified by Harry Sylvester.
Paul Healey made a motion to recommend the installation of the crosswalk at
Kilby and Summer Streets, seconded by Harry Sylvester with all voting in favor.
II Main Street/Cushing Street/South Pleasant Street Intersection
Sgt. Horte presented preliminary traffic data provided by the traffic engineer
John Morgan of Coler & Colantonio, the company hired by the Town to compile
data at this intersection. To date, this data includes am/pm traffic counts of average daily traffic for September 15th and September 16th . Sgt. Horte informed the Committee that Mr. Morgan will make an interim report of his findings to the Committee shortly. Paul Healey asked if Coler & Colantonio was provided with the prior study data associated with the Main Street/High Street traffic light study. That will be followed up. Scott Peterson asked whether Coler & Colantonio will make a recommendation to the Committee on how to proceed. Harry Sylvester indicated that C&C will formulate and process all pertinent information obtained from their study in order to assist the Committee in their analysis and recommendations for improvement of this intersection.
Mr. Healey noted that the Level of Service analysis on vehicle queuing times will change with the installation of a traffic control signal. Mr. Sylvester stated that the main focus should be on the number of accidents at the intersection. Mr. Healey offered to contact a Hingham resident who is a retired traffic engineer to ask if he would be willing to assist the committee in its deliberations of this issue. Leslie Kehoe asked if Roger Fernandes, Town Project Engineer could assist. It was determined that he could but first we need to meet the engineer from C&C and work towards getting a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen.
According to Sgt. Horte, the committee's possible recommendations are: do nothing and leave intersection as is, redesign the intersection and install traffic light, consider installing a roundabout as one of those designs, and initiate other traffic calming measures. Discussions of these options will include the cost of a traffic light was discussed which is approximately $250,000 for the light alone, exclusive of the redesign of the intersection. If the estimated cost is too high, it could be prohibitive from a budgetary standpoint.
It was suggested whether it would be prudent to meet with Mr. Morgan prior to the usual meeting on the fourth Wednesday of the month regarding the study findings in order to clarify matters, such matter to be posted. Residents in attendance from Main, Cushing and South Pleasant Streets asked that we continue to notify them of all upcoming meetings pertaining to this intersection.
III Bulow Road
Bulow Road resident Patricia Powers attended the meeting and asked for an update on
the problem of speeding and cut-through traffic on Bulow Road. Since this item was not
posted in advance, nothing was decided tonight. Mrs. Powers would like to have one
end of the street (off of 3A) blocked off. Another suggestion was made by
John Haley to post signs restricting egress from Bulow road onto Rt. 3A between 3:00-7:00 pm. and enforce it. It was determined that further traffic counts needed to be done between the peak hours of 3:00-7:00 pm. Sgt. Horte will conduct the count and report
his findings at the next meeting. The traffic trailer will also be placed on Bulow Road
to obtain data on the speed of vehicles travelling on the street. Sgt. Horte will also provide pictures of a Total Traffic Diverter, which includes a breakaway barrier used in other cites as a solution to a similar problematic street. It is able to deter traffic from entering but can collapse or breakaway in an emergency or if traffic needs to be diverted for any reason. These will be presented and discussed at the next meeting as well.
A motion was made by Harold Goldstein to adjourn and was seconded by Leslie Kehoe.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jan Jacobson
Adminstrative Assistant
Hingham Police Department