Town Hall, and Center School done. ☑
Route 131 is finally completed. ☑
Burgess School occupied, and will be completed in a little over a year. ☑
The new Waste Water Treatment Plant will be online in the beginning of 2012. ☑
The completion of Well No. 4 has occurred , and the well passed testing by MassDEP last month. ☑
Took some effort, a lot of input from the residents, and the occasional "fix" along the way for each on of these major town projects.
We done good, Sturbridge. We done good, despite it all, we done good.
Now, the question we all have swimming around in the back of our heads, "What now?".
What new projects would you like to see here in town?
How about I start it off?
Traffic lights at the intersection of Arnold Road and Route 20, and the intersection of New Boston Road and Route 20 are needed, and have been for a very long time. Now, we are way beyond hearing that it is not something the town has jurisdiction over, or it is a project that only the state can perform. I've heard it before, and this time, I'm not listening to the rhetoric. Maybe it's true for the projects entirety that the state would be responsible, but it is up to the town to express a need to get the ball going, and to pursue it until it is completed.
I challenge the BOS to punt the ball to MassDOT, and put some effort behind it this time. No onside kicks this time around. Smack that puppy, and make our roads safer.
Quite frankly, I don't think it should be necessary for me to say a prayer before I turn from Route 20 eastbound onto New Boston Road.
So there, the gauntlet has been thrown down. The challenge made. Now it is time for the BOS to make its move. A simple exploratory committee with a 90 day expiration date would be an excellent start.
Now, your turn. What new project would you like the town to embark on?
I beg to differ on rte. 131 I don't believe it is complete.
ReplyDeleteWhat is not yet complete? Painting? Curbs? Guard rails? Am I missing something?
ReplyDeletepaving and driveways don't match up in height..there is a big difference between the 131 and the driveways
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, it's done.
ReplyDeleteHas the BOS accepted the challenge?
ReplyDeleteI moved here 11 years ago. I remember at time in the early evening being able to look west on Main Street at Cedar Street, and see no vehicles in either direction. Those times are long gone. It's become nearly impossible at times to make lefts from the parking lots of the many businesses and store along Main St. To do so requires the aide of a good Samaritan to pause and let you out. I've go so far as to turn right, then bang a left into a parking lot to reverse direction. At times during the evening rush, the line of traffic runs from back near Rt. 131 all the way west to Rt.148 Adding a traffic light at Arnold wil do nothing except create longer lines.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'd propose comes from the land of "Jersey Barriers" and "Jug Handles", my old residence of New Jersey. Down there, congested roadway often employ somethign called "metering lights" These are synchronized sets of lights that briefly halt traffic creating gaps in the flow to allow cross traffic or left turns without greatly impeding the flow. Pauses of only several seconds are oftem all that's required to create a gap in the flow for cross traffic to "scoot" out. Buried in the road surface are counters which keep track of the number of vehicles. During high volume periods, the lights pause traffic for longer periods. When flow is light, it may set the light to blink yellow only. This idea works much better than the standard traffic light we typically see.
There is a sophisticated system of metering the lights under the roadways now. I do not know how it is set up, the timing, or the number of cars it is set for, but maybe it should be tweaked a bit. Still, more lights are needed, and this is coming from someone that despises them. Otherwise, there will be a serious tragedy once more at one of our poorly regulated intersections. This is what happens when the traffic, and people numbers grow faster than expected, and the town is left not knowing just what to do.
ReplyDelete