Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Something So Simple, Yet So Effective

Sturbridge is not the only rural community plagued with speeders on its narrow country roads.  For years, those of us at the southern terminus of Route 148 have had to deal with vehicles speeding through this mile long thickly settled district with no help from the state.  They will only admit to the fact that the road qualifies for the current speed limit, and that's that.  Safety be damned.  Our Chief of Police did manage to get the yellow speed "suggestion signs" changed to enforceable speed limit signs.  There were talks to place  a larger sign at the northern, and southern entry into the area warning drivers of a "zero tolerance" for speeders, but like most things that don't have a Pit Bull attached to it, they are soon forgotten.

The speeders are still there.  No change.  No increase, and certainly no decrease in the number of drivers speeding well over the posted limits.  There are more cruisers lying in wait down by the "Compatible Canine" store, but the violators know that is where they are.  Some wave to the officer as they pass.

I have always thought there had to be some other tactic that could be used to dissuade speeders from burning it up along this stretch of Route 148.  Something simple.  Something that would leave an impression.

I think I found it.  A small community in Georgia had the same safety problem we are experiencing, and they have solved it with a sign.

I believe Chief Tom Ford would find this method effective, or at the very least, cost effective.

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