HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-04-03-TSAC-min
Town of Lexington
Traffic Safety Advisory Committee
TO: Hank Mantz, Chair Board of Selectman
CC: Carl Valente Town Manager, Bill Hadley DPW Director, Donna Hooper - Clerk
FROM: Traffic Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC)
rd
SUBJECT: Minutes of Meeting April 3, 2012
Members present: Dave Cannon, Manuel Ferro, Mary Ellen Dunn, Jeanette Rebecchi,
Stephen Ades, Steve Frymer, and Sudhir Murthy.
Agenda:
·
Shade Street traffic calming
·
Police traffic safety update
·
New business
Shade Street Traffic Calming
Following were discussed which highlight the results of the study conducted by Consultants
Fay, Spofford and Thorndike (FST) and observations by the Town and committee members:
·
th
The study reported the 85 percentile speed on Shade Street was higher than the
posted speed limit.
·
The average daily traffic (ADT) on Shade Street is around 1000 vehicles per day.
·
Of the traffic on Shade Street, 37% of it is cut-through traffic during the morning
commute hours.
·
Shade Street is classified as local under the MassDOT functional classification;
under the Towns classification, it a residential through. Shade Street has been in
existence for the past 180 years.
·
Shade Street is currently under-signed in terms of posted speed limit. The
existing signs are in poor condition and not properly visible.
·
After the completion of the traffic signal at the intersection of Marrett Road and
Spring Street, the cut-through traffic through the Shade Street neighborhood from
Spring Street to Marrett Rd has decreased. The only cut-through traffic not to
decrease is from Marrett Rd to Spring St/Route 2. The original design included an
exclusive right turn lane on the eastbound approach, but was eliminated due to right-
of-way issues. Given the level of cut-through traffic within the Shade Street
neighborhood, it may be time to revisit the feasibility of having the exclusive right turn
lane. This would likely have a significant impact towards reducing cut-through traffic
on Shade Street.
·
The Town has made good use of the mitigation funds from Shire Pharmaceuticals
including traffic signals at Marrett Rd & Spring St, Spring St & Hayden Ave, Spring St
& Concord Ave.
·
During the past three years, there has been only one reported crash. There may
have been other unreported crashes.
Page 1 of 2
·
Speed enforcement would have to be using motorcycles to be effective as the
road is not wide enough for a police cruiser.
·
Increased enforcement alone will not be sufficient there is a need for education.
·
While the existing bike volumes are not quantified, many bikers use Shade Street
during certain times as it provides a connection to Spring Street.
·
Given the towns classification of the Shade Street, and the level of ADT, and in
conformance with the Towns Traffic Calming Policy, an incremental approach is
recommended, consisting of additional signage, pavement markings along the entire
length of Shade Street as well as the intersections at Spring Street, Cary Ave, and
Fairbanks Road.
Following were comments provided by attendees to the TSAC meeting:
·
The Town Planning Board views the Towns Traffic Calming Policy to have two
tracks one track for streets with general traffic, and the other track affected by
developments. The Planning Board is interested in moving cut-through traffic from
local streets to arterials, and from arterials to expressways. Given the expected
development at Shire Pharmaceuticals and Ledgemont Office Park, the cut-through
traffic on Shade Street could be higher.
·
The residents of the Shade Street neighborhood do not want double yellow center
lines. There is also no consensus on whether to have a sidewalk or not. However,
they would like to see the Shire mitigation funds be used to construct speed tables
and physical methods at key gateways into the neighborhood to protect it from cut-
through traffic.
After a lengthy discussion, the TSAC unanimously voted for the following recommendations:
1. Develop a plan to add new speed limit signs and a driver feedback speed sign.
2. Add solid white edge lines and sharrows (to indicate shared use by vehicles and
bikes)
3. Look into the possibility of constructing an exclusive right turn lane on Marrett Rd
eastbound at Spring St.
4. Add pavement markings at 4 neighborhood intersections: Shade St & Fairbanks
Rd, Shade St & Cary Ave, Shade St & Weston St, and Shade St & Spring St.
5. Provide on-going traffic enforcement and education.
6. Cut back vegetation to improve sightlines
7. Collect data again this fall after installation of the above recommendations to verify
their effectiveness and to determine if additional traffic calming measures are
necessary.
The TSAC recommends Shade Street be considered as a pilot study for traffic calming
measures resulting from developments.
Police Traffic Safety Update
The committee discussed the issue of the STOP sign on Roosevelt Road. The Town will
recommend to move the DO NOT ENTER sign as well as add pedestrian signs. The
committee decided to bring this issue at the next TSAC meeting to give Safe Routes to
School an opportunity to provide input.