Select Board backs conditional plan for up to three speed humps on Gold Star Drive after neighborhood petition

The Select Board on July 23 conditionally approved a traffic‑calming plan for Gold Star Drive that would allow the installation of up to three speed humps if the required neighborhood support is demonstrated. The vote followed months of review by the traffic safety work group, an abutters meeting and an unapproved installation that neighbors said disrupted their enjoyment of adjacent property.

Drew (last name not provided), the town Department of Public Works deputy director, described the chronology: the traffic safety work group in 2023 recommended one speed hump between Nos. 3 and 5 Gold Star Drive after data collection; neighbors later petitioned for calming and some asked for three humps. "The speed data was analyzed and discussed at the 09/21/2023 traffic safety work group meeting," Drew said, and "the roadway doesn't warrant speed humps per the town's traffic calming policy," though the work group considered other factors including geometry and traffic volumes.

Drew explained that a crew inadvertently installed an acute speed bump (a more abrupt device than a hump) in a location that was not the board's approved site, provoking complaints and a request for removal from the adjacent property owner. The town manager temporarily directed removal; workers were met by neighborhood resistance and installations remained while the town sought a broader abutters meeting. After further review the traffic safety work group later recommended three speed humps and the board agreed to a conditional approval: up to three humps in the locations shown on the revised plan, with the incorrectly placed bump removed, contingent on documentation that two‑thirds of abutting property owners support the plan.

Drew said the town has heard back from nine of 14 abutting properties: seven support the plan, one strongly opposes and one conditionally supports two rather than three humps. "Because 2 thirds of abutter support has not yet been documented, we are not seeking select board approval at this time," Drew said earlier in his layup, later the board voted to conditionally approve pending the required petition support.

Select Board members urged neighbors to continue outreach so the two‑thirds threshold can be met; several members described broader desires to rethink street design and traffic flow in the area. The board asked staff to correct plan text (one hump location description was misstated on an earlier plan) and to return with evidence of the required neighborhood support so final installation can proceed.

The board's conditional approval includes direction to remove the improperly placed speed bump and to proceed with humps rather than bumps, subject to the neighborhood petition threshold and correct siting.