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Select Board approves converting School Street to two‑way traffic after debate
Summary
After hearing traffic engineering, drainage and pedestrian‑crossing plans, the Select Board voted 3–2 to restore two‑way traffic on School Street for a development project; board members expressed safety and winter‑icing concerns but staff said drainage and improved sidewalks will mitigate problems.
The Select Board voted to convert School Street back to two‑way traffic to serve a nearby housing development, approving the change 3–2 on June 11 after engineers described traffic counts, paving and pedestrian improvements.
Alex, the project manager working for the developer and project engineer, told the board his firm collected turning‑movement counts and concluded the intersections near the development would maintain their current levels of service under two‑way operation. He said paving and striping are scheduled to finish after the top paving course, likely the week of June 16–17, and that the contractor expects to install signage and stripe the centerline once the pavement seals (about 48 hours after paving).
Alex described pedestrian improvements that include a relocated, flatter crossing with better sight lines near the upper parking‑lot entrance and new sidewalk work tying into the fire‑department frontage. He said School Street’s design includes a 24‑foot travel way, no parallel parking on the school side and dedicated stalls for the housing authority on the opposite side.
Board members raised safety concerns. Several members recalled a history of fender benders and wheel‑slip ice on the hill and questioned whether two‑way traffic, plus new apartments (the project anticipates roughly 50–70 cars), would create new conflicts at the Baldwinville Road/Maple Street intersection and during winter. Public‑works and design staff said the project includes sub‑drainage, improved soil replacement in problematic sections, widened turning radii at the bottom of School Street and other drainage work intended to reduce icing and improve safety.
Chair Adam (chair) and two board members voted yes to convert the road; two voted no. The chair said the change is reversible if traffic data after the project’s completion and subsequent winters show problems: “We will gather the data and perhaps would come back and change it back,” he said.
The vote requires the town to complete striping and signage before formally opening two‑way traffic; the engineer said the contractor will complete paving and final striping shortly after the meeting and that work should be complete in the next one to two weeks.
