DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board voted to accept the Traffic Commission recommendation to conduct a traffic study at the Senior Center during its meeting on Monday. 

 

The commission had urged the board for a traffic study now that the polling station is at the Senior Center. 

 

It is unclear what the cost will be but Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said he believes there is enough in the engineering account to cover it. The board directed him to look into the details further. 

 

Although the board voted in favor of the idea members noted they can not guarantee a study can be completed in time for the March elections. 

 

The Select Board voted to relocate the polling station from the Community Recreation Association to the Senior Center in August, going against an ad hoc committee's suggestion.

 

That committee was made up of the police chief, the fire chief, the highway superintendent and Town Clerk Heather Hunt.

 

Limited parking at the center may cause parking overflow onto side streets, which could create a safety issue by blocking emergency personnel from accessing the area, Police Chief Deanna Strout said during the August meeting. 

 

The roads are also not designed to handle the amount of traffic elections would bring, the Traffic Commission said during one of its meetings. 

 

The commission wants to look at the area's traffic patterns. One of the major concerns is the blind spots on Glennon Avenue, including the hill "coming over the top" and the curb coming around the post office. 

 

The commission needs to consider the best place to put signage, and the police details to make the area safe for residents. 

 

The board also directed Hutcheson to work with the tree warden to assess the trees and parking situation at Pinegrove Park. 

 

The Traffic Commission wrote a letter to the board proposing relocating trees near Pine Grove to alleviate traffic congestion.

 

The proposal also included adding diagonal parking in the area and along Carson Avenue so more cars can park in that area. It also recommended adding a walkway from Third Street along the center of the park to High Street to allow movement to various fields at the park. 

 

Select Board Vice Chair Dan Esko said the transplanting of the trees and the addition of diagonal lines is a great idea but was uncertain about the walkway due to the unknowns surrounding it. 

 

"I’m not necessarily opposed to that but just curious [about] what that would look like, [and]  what costs would be associated with that change. What's the plan, I suppose," Esko said. 

 

Hutcheson will coordinate with the tree warden and follow up with the board during a future meeting.