Police Officials Review Improving Flagpole Intersection Safety

By Andrew Gorosko

Police officials are considering a local woman’s proposal to make the hazardous Main Street flagpole intersection safer by posting certain traffic signs there that would limit the actions that motorists could take while driving through the area.

Resident Karen Banks of West Street suggested this week that traffic signs be posted on Main Street’s northbound and southbound approaches to the flagpole intersection stating that it is prohibited to pass vehicles on the right in the intersection. Ms Banks spoke at a December 2 Police Commission meeting.

The congested five-legged Main Street flagpole intersection has a high accident rate, with many collisions occurring there as motorists seek to make a range of motions while traveling through the area. Main Street, Church Hill Road, and separate eastbound and westbound legs of West Street all meet at the 100-foot-tall flagpole, which is not protected by crash barriers.

Ms Banks said that although Main Street (Route 25) is a state road, she opted to first approach the town about improving traffic safety at the hazardous intersection. Traffic volume has increased significantly during the 30 years that she has lived in town, Ms Banks said.

The flagpole intersection has been the subject of many traffic improvement studies over the years, the most recent of which in 2006 recommended a range of physical changes at the intersection to improve traffic safety there. Town and borough officials, however, dismissed the proposed physical changes as unworkable.

“Main Street is still a big [traffic] problem. It is the center of town, and I’d like to see something done,” Ms Banks said.

Police Commission member Brian Budd asked whether installing a four-way set of traffic signals would provide a solution for the traffic problems there.

Ms Banks responded that traffic signals or stop signs would improve the situation. Currently, westbound Church Hill Road and eastbound West Street have stop signs posted at their approaches to the intersection.

Police Commission Chairman Carol Mattegat pointed out that the width of Main Street at the intersection results in motorists passing on the right either the drivers who are waiting on southbound Main Street to turn left onto Church Hill Road, or the drivers who are waiting on northbound Main Street to turn left onto West Street.

Ms Banks said that there are occasionally sightline problems for motorists who are exiting West Street and entering the intersection. She said she realizes that the traffic problems at the flagpole intersection are a longstanding issue, but added that improvements have not been made there.

Steps should be taken to improve conditions, she said. Traffic conditions would be better if motorists drove through the area more slowly, she said. The posting of traffic signs prohibiting passing on the right, or the placement of stop signs, or the installation of traffic signals would improve matters, she said.

Police Captain Joe Rios said police will research the issues raised by Ms Banks and would address the workability of posting traffic signs prohibiting passing on the right.

Many issues come into play concerning traffic moving through the Main Street flagpole intersection, said Police Chief Michael Kehoe. The area has posed traffic problems for many years, he said.

One of the problems with posting traffic signs is that motorists do not pay attention to the signs, he said. Ultimately, it would fall to the police to enforce any traffic prohibitions at the flagpole intersection, he said.

Police will review the traffic issues raised by Ms Banks, Chief Kehoe said.