Uxbridge committee presses for broader look at parking and safety in growing subdivisions

Residents and committee members told the Town of Uxbridge Traffic & Safety Committee that parking and roadway geometry in recent and long‑standing developments are creating safety risks for drivers, deliveries and emergency vehicles.

Roger, a resident who lives off Cotton Mill Way, described a blind curve on Crown Shield where "sometimes up to 7 vehicles are parked overnight" and said delivery trucks and large vehicles often leave the street reduced to one lane. "It's a blind curve where people park... it just it's getting to be where it's ugly," Roger said, adding that his wife was involved in a crash there.

Committee members tied Roger's report to recurring complaints across the same development area, including requests for crosswalks, child‑warning signage and improved bus‑stop markings. "This whole area is real, is new, is getting built up," Speaker 1 said, and members generally favored a holistic review rather than ad‑hoc signs. Speaker 3 recommended a joint stakeholder meeting that would include the select board, road commissioners and the developers to determine what interventions are needed and who should pay for them.

The committee also heard complaints that delivery drivers are failing to yield at uncontrolled intersections in the Rogerson Crossing area. Speaker 4 described drivers "blowing right across Rogerson Crossing," and members noted enforcement limits and drivers' unfamiliarity with local right‑of‑way rules. "To address his direct concerns, we can reach out to Amazon and ask them to ask their drivers to be more careful in the area," Speaker 3 said.

Another long‑running focal point was the four‑way stop at Granite/Linwood/East Hartford, where speakers said flashing signs and previous geometry changes have not reduced crash frequency. Members asked staff to retrieve crash history from the state database to compare periods when the intersection operated as a two‑way stop and as a four‑way stop.

On Morrison Street by Taft School, the committee reviewed a resident letter alleging that, during events, parking on both sides of the street narrows the roadway to one lane and may prevent fire apparatus from passing. Speaker 3 moved that the committee request the select board reinstate a restriction prohibiting parking on the north side of Morrison Street; Speaker 1 seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

The panel agreed on two consistent next steps: ask staff to inspect problem sites (Ben, the member who handles signage, was assigned several inspections), and convene a joint meeting with relevant stakeholders to evaluate the whole neighborhood rather than apply piecemeal fixes. Committee members emphasized that some solutions (for example, changing stop‑control at an intersection) require crash data, careful public notice and coordination with the road commissioners.

The committee kept several items on the agenda for follow‑up: Teresa Drive sight‑line/signage review, Johnson Road/Chocolat Road yield sign relocation, the cluster of subdivision exits (Connor Pass, Big Rock), and an overall assessment of parking and crosswalk needs in the Autumn Ridge/Rogerson Crossing area.

The committee did not adopt any immediate regulatory changes beyond the motion to request select board action on Morrison Street; instead, it directed staff to prepare site inspections, crash‑history reports and to invite stakeholders to a joint meeting.