Williamstown Looks into Signage to Boost Safety on Bee Hill Road
 The Selectmen hold up town flag submissions for the folks watching on television at home. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen on Monday directed town officials to install new signage to help increase traffic safety on Bee Hill Road.
The board addressed the South Williamstown road in response to a concern raised by a resident about the danger to pedestrians posed by vehicles using Bee Hill as a "shortcut" between the Mohawk Trail (Route 2) and Cold Spring Road (Route 7).
Selectmen Andrew Hogeland asked that the issue be put on the agenda for Monday's meeting, and the board's two longest serving selectmen both noted that the issue is not new.
Town Manager Peter Fohlin confirmed that and gave a brief review of proposals that have been floated in the past — from making the road one way to cutting it in two with a gate or earthen barrier at the midway point.
"I [The latter] would be challenging for ambulances, fire trucks and police, and it would be interesting for a school bus and equally interesting to see cars backing up down the road because there is no conceivable way of turning around at the midpoint," Fohlin said.
Fohlin and Selectman Thomas Sheldon agreed that the issue was the advent of global positioning satellite devices that recommend drivers take the quiet residential road that was little known before GPS devices came into vogue. Fohlin noted that Bee Hill Road is not actually a shortcut but actually adds time to a trip compared to staying on Routes 2 and 7.
But in spite of Bee Hill Road's rural character, the town cannot close it off to through traffic as long as it is a public way.
There is an extreme remedy: discontinuing it as a public way and turning it over to the abutters. But Fohlin indicated that might not be a palatable step for those abutters.
"Every problem can be solved," he said. "Not every solution is a good one."
Chairman Ronald Turbin suggested a change to speed limits along the road, but Fohlin responded that people ignore speed limit signs, no parking signs and one-way signs.
"Signs are not a panacea," he said. "But if the Selectmen want to put up any sort of sign that is in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, we can do that. We can festoon Bee HIll Road with signs."
Sheldon noted that the town had erected "Share the Road" signs on portions of Route 43, and Hogeland said, "It seems to me signs are better than nothing."
Fohlin said he and Public Works Director Tim Kaiser would see what signs they could find that would convey that message of consideration and install them on each end of the road.
The board spent a good deal of time on Monday deciding how it will gather more public input on the town flag question.
The town received four community submissions for a possible town flag in addition to the one designed by committee and submitted to the Selectmen earlier this year.
Turbin asked his colleagues whether they thought the board should make the final selection on their own or put the question to annual town meeting.
Ultimately, the board decided to give residents the opportunity to weigh in on the five candidates and reconsider the selection process at its Dec. 8 meeting.
Selectwoman Jane Patton questioned whether the town should be devoting so much time and energy to the creation of a flag.
"I think the fact that, after all this, we got four additional submissions and [32] responses to the [online] survey ... it troubles me that we've turned this into such a 'thing,' " she said. "We've repeatedly said, 'Tell us what you think,' and hundredths of a percent of the town population has spoken. The public has spoken by not speaking.
"For us to keep belaboring it troubles me on so many levels. We need to come to a process and a decision and move on."
Turbin disagreed.
"I think there has been town enthusiasm and input," he said. "It's been a topic of conversation from people I know. … I think five submissions is pretty good."
At the suggestion of Hogeland, the board agreed to ask Fohlin to post the five flag proposals at Town Hall and at the David and Joyce Milne Public Library for the next couple of weeks and to put a temporary display at the Penny Social during the Holiday Walk on Dec. 6.
And for the benefit of the community access television camera, each member of the board held up one flag proposal for the "home audience" on Monday evening.
In other action, the board gave its blessing to some modifications in the open space, affordable housing and historic preservation restrictions associated with the Cable Mills housing development on Water Street.
The town also modified the delivery of the remainder of a $1.5 million town grant to support the Cable Mills project. Instead of the Community Preservation Act-funded grant going directly to developer 160 Water Street LLC, it will go to the Boston Community Loan Fund.
By awarding the grant to the non-profit loan fund — which will loan the money back to 160 Water Street — the tax impact on the developer will be lessened, 160 Water Street attorney Jamie Art told the BOS.
"I believe [BCLF does] this in a lot of their lending projects where there is grant money involved," Art said. "They can act as a conduit for the money and reduce the tax liability.
"This is what they do: try to make affordable housing viable and get constructed."
Tags: Bee Hill, flags, town flag,
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