Traffic Commission Approves Safety Measures

The city is continuing to work on several traffic calming measures requested by City Councilors. Councilors Melinda Vega Maldonado and Damali Vidot have asked that a speed table be placed near 32 Franklin Avenue to help reduce speeding in that area. “Following the receipt of this request, the city consulted with our on-call transportation consultant, TEC, around the feasibility of the proposed speed tables,” said Alex Train, the city’s housing and community development director, at Tuesday’s Traffic and Parking Commission meeting. “TEC is putting the final touches on a plan that they’re going to submit to the city for review by the DPW, housing and community development, police, and fire.” Train said he expects that plan will be presented to the traffic commission at its September meeting. The transportation consultant is also assessing the feasibility of putting stop signs at the corner of Parker Street and Clark Avenue and Clark and Cary avenues at the request of District 5 City Councilor Judith Garcia. “The intersection does not have a four-way stop, resulting in pedestrian safety issues,” said Train. “The sight lines of this intersection are poor, so, for instance, an approaching vehicle on Clark cannot necessarily see pedestrians that are attempting to cross.” Train said the city met with TEC last week to discuss short- and long-term measures for the intersection that will also be presented at the September traffic commission meeting. The commission did approve a “Do Not Block the Box” requirement at the intersection of Spruce and Williams street as requested by the community development department. “The genesis of this was feedback from various abutters, as well as the councilor for the area,” said Train. “Many cities, like the city of Boston, have implemented ‘Do Not Block the Box’ pavement markings to ensure that folks are not idling their vehicles in the middle of the intersection when traffic is log jammed. So previously, we’ve instituted this at a select number of intersections, but we’ve held off on implementing it widely due to some of the operations and maintenance considerations.” At Spruce and Williams, Train said there is congestion due to vehicles queuing in the intersection and obstructing oncoming traffic. Train added that community development and the DPW could produce a list of other intersections in the city that could benefit from the “Do Not Block the Box” markings. He said the most likely candidates are the intersections of Spruce and Second and Spruce and Everett. Train also noted that a contract has been awarded by the city for traffic improvements at the intersection of Washington and Jefferson, and that the work should begin after Labor Day and be completed by the end of the year.

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