Link back to Traffic Committee Meeting Minutes
Police Chief Taylor A.B. Mills, Chairman
Sgt. Steven Dearth, Representative for Chief Mills
Lt. John Haley, Representative for Chief Mark Duff
Harry Sylvester, DPW
Paul K. Healey, Planning Board
Leslie Kehoe
Scott Peterson, Esquire
Harold Goldstein
James Costello
TO: Board of Selectmen
FROM: Chief Taylor Mills
RE: Minutes of February 2, 2011 Traffic Committee Meeting
DATE: February 3, 2011
PRESENT:
John Haley, Lieutenant, Hingham Fire Department
Steven Dearth, Sergeant, Hingham Police Department
Harry Sylvester, Hingham DPW
Paul K. Healey, Hingham Planning Board
Leslie Kehoe
Scott Peterson, Esquire
James Costello
NOT PRESENT: Harold Goldstein
Sgt. Dearth called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
A motion was made by Paul Healey, seconded by Leslie Kehoe, to accept the minutes as written of the previous meeting on 12/22/10. Unanimous vote in favor.
I. South Elementary School Overflow Parking on Independence Lane
John Ferris, Director of Business and Support Services and Eliza Burns, Principal of South School were in attendance to update the Committee on measures being taken to alleviate the overflow parking problems being experienced by Independence Lane residents. A traffic circulation plan titled “Liberty Pole Car Loop” was instituted on 11/29/10 and has resulted in a modest improvement of the situation but more needs to be done according to Independence Lane residents who are impacted by the problem of cars blocking the road and limiting access of emergency vehicles. An example was given of a fire engine being unable to get by as recently as last week. It was observed that many of the children who are picked up are Kindergarteners which prompted Paul Healey to suggest that the release time of Kindergarteners be staggered. Residents requested that the Police Dept. ticket any vehicles that are blocking the roadway or issue warnings. Signage was also discussed but again, enforcement would be needed. A resident also suggested signage stating “No Parking Monday-Friday from 8:00-4:00 pm.” Mr. Healey stated that ideally more might need to be done by the School Dept. to restructure their release procedures so as not to impact the use of public way for school traffic. It was also observed that this could further burden existing resources of the Police Department. The possibility of adding an extra bus for the Liberty Pole area was also mentioned as an alternative to look into.
Principal Eliza Burns also suggested that HPD issue an EMAS Alert about the situation to which Sgt. Dearth responded that he would check into that possibility and if that could not be done, he would contact the Hingham Journal regarding printing an alert as well. Principal Burns and John Ferris agreed to explore further avenues to rectify the problem. They will also collect data pertaining to student counts, bus information, etc. and will report back to the Committee at a later date.
II. Downer/Thaxter/3A/Lincoln Streets
The issue of timing of the pedestrian crossing signal at this intersection was
revisited. Sgt. Dearth reported that he contacted Mass. Highway who was
able to correct the problem. The pedestrian crossing signal is now at a reasonable
length of time to enable walkers to cross the street in the time allotted. The problem
was that three of the four bulbs had burned out, but have now been replaced. Sgt. Dearth presented a review of crashes at this intersection and for the volume of traffic, number of accidents reported was negligible. There were 6 in 2010, 4 of which were rear end accidents, none of which had injuries. As for traffic backing up in the morning, a traffic engineer would have to be contacted and a traffic study would be necessary before any adjustments could be made to the timing of the traffic signals. The Committee determined that the problem was one if perception and not one that is supported
by the facts which would warrant a traffic study to be conducted. It was also noted
that drivers had options to avoid backups such as Crow Point Lane.
III. Station Street Parking_
The issue of parking limits and restrictions in the Station Street area was once again discussed. The merchants on Station Street (Sub Galley, Hair Salon, etc.) would like to have a one hour parking limit but Harry Sylvester noted that there is nowhere to post the signs. Ben Wilcox of HDIC suggested having all day parking spots designated for merchants in the downtown area, Post Office and Fruit Center and have two hour parking in front of Sub Galley, etc. Mr. Wilcox suggested that 100 parking spaces could be dedicated to all day parking. Paul Healey observed that Sgt. Dearth will need to review this matter from an enforcement perspective. The Committee agreed that this issue needs to be investigated further and revisited at a later date.
IV. Notre Dame Academy
Sgt. Dearth conducted a review of crashes at Notre Dame and Main Street as requested by Paul Healey at last month’s meeting. The study was for the period of 1/1/06-12/31/10. The total number of accidents was 13, 12 of which had no injuries reported. There were only 3 accidents reported during the peak traffic time at NDA (start and dismissal times) over this 5 year period.
V. High and French Streets
Sgt. Dearth presented data requested by Harold Goldstein regarding the number of traffic accidents at this intersection for the past 5 years. The data is for the period of 1/1/06-12/31/10. There were a total of 17 accidents at this location ( 2 in 2006, 2 in 2007, 4 in 2008, 7 in 2009 and 4 in 2010). Six of these crashes resulted in injuries. While the number of accidents at this intersection has increased since the January 2007 installation of the traffic signal at Main/High/Free streets, none have involved vehicles travelling northbound from Ward Street turning right on High Street toward the traffic light.
VI. New Business
a. Lt. Haley observed that there are no dedicated handicapped parking spaces at Hingham Beerworks and Alma Nove in the Shipyard. Leslie Kehoe concurred. Harry Sylvester suggested that the Fire Dept. contact the Building Commissioner to look into the matter.
b. Paul Healey brought up the issue of parking on the side of the road on Union Street. Harry Sylvester believes that the School Committee wants to change the language on the signs as increased use of the fields might make matters worse.
c. Paul Healey presented a letter from Shirley Rydell of the Shade Tree Committee requesting a possible crosswalk at Jackass Park. This matter will be put on the agenda for the next meeting which is scheduled for 2/23/11.
A motion was made by Harry Sylvester to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Leslie Kehoe.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jan Jacobson
Administrative Assistant
Hingham Police Department