Sturbridge, We've Got A Problem

Whoops.

Someone sure screwed up.  Really screwed up.

Looking south onto Haynes Street the intersection does not
have enough width to allow turns onto, and from Main Street.

A couple of weeks ago, during all the hullabaloo about bricks, stonewalls, concrete someone made a comment about the intersection of Haynes Street, and Main Street being too narrow to allow a large truck, or a tractor trailer unit turn onto Haynes Street from Main Street.  The reverse is true as well.  A large vehicle, or trailer coming out of Haynes Street does not have the space to make a turn onto Main Street in either direction.

The radius needed to turn is just not there.

How can this be?  There is no restriction as to what vehicles can use Haynes Street so it must be designed to accommodate all vehicles.

This is very strange.  The road designers went by the book for a rural intersection since Haynes Street is not a freeway that would require them to design a wider "mouth" for the intersection, but they ignored two important facts that would have mandated a change in the design:

• Haynes  Street was built wider, with a wider shoulder years ago when it was no longer Route 15, and  I-84 was built.  It had become a "feeder road" for I-84 for car, and large truck traffic.  As a feeder road the design for its intersection would be different.  A rest area was built for cars and trucks that houses Sbarro's and Roy Rodgers, and years later a much larger truck stop was built on the road, Sturbridge Isle, now Pilot.  It is natural to assume that large vehicle and local truck traffic would use this intersection since they use the road constantly.

• The re-construction of the Center School at the this time that Route 131 was also being rebuilt would have been an excellent time to redesign, and build a wider intersection at Haynes and Main Street.

So what do we do now?

Well, unless we address the mistake immediately we will be living with it forever.  They will place will place a large yellow sign on Haynes Street warning truck drivers not to drive any further toward the center of town, and advising them to turn around or get off onto I-84.  There will be trucks that drive to the end of the road, and attempt to make a turn.  There will be knocked over signs, traffic light posts, and flipped over granite curbing, and that is only the minor things that will happen.  What you can guarantee will happen is a tractor trailer will attempt to make the radius going into, or coming out of Haynes Street, and not be able to pull it off.  It will be stuck.

Shades of Storrow Drive.

Tire marks, chipped and displaced granite curbing indicate that
there have been problems with the turn already.

The curbing has already been damaged by the tires of heavy trucks and has been knocked out of place.

I think we need to solve this brick/concrete sidewalk issue ASAP so that we can put our energy towards this intersection dilemma even faster.

It would also be interesting to hear from local government, and Mass DOT regarding this intersection right about now.  I think some explanation is forthcoming.  Who knows, there may be an excellent explanation.

Maybe, but I don't think so.  I think they are flummoxed by this as we are, and will have to think hard, and run fast in order to fix it.

I'll be waiting to see what comes next.

Click on photographs for enlarged view.

For more information about road, and intersection design here in Massachusetts go to:

MassDot Project Development & Design Guide  Chapter 6 Intersection Design.  
Download print version for review, the web version does not work as well.