DALTON, Mass. — With a couple of new businesses opening along Main Street, officials are questioning whether the additions will impact traffic patterns and what improvements could be made to improve safety, particularly near the Daly Avenue intersection.

 

Earlier this month, the Select Board voted to request that the state conduct a traffic study of the area and provide recommendations for potential safety improvements.

 

The section of Main Street near Daly Avenue has seen two new additions, including the renovation of 621 Main St. into a second location for Dalton Auto Express and the construction of a Lipton Market at 630 Main St. 

 

Prior to these businesses, residents have complained that it's hard to see coming around the corner from Daily Avenue, especially coming out of the post office, Select Board Chair Robert Bishop said. 

 

With an anticipated September opening for Lipton Market, it may be time to start looking into ways to improve safety in that area, including the possibility of improving crosswalks or installing a traffic light, he suggested. 

 

Main Street serves as both the state's Route 9 and, in parts of town, runs concurrently with Route 8, including the section near Daly Avenue. Since the roadway is maintained by the state, any potential changes or improvements would need to go through state approval.

 

"[The town can make requests but the state is] really responsible. I mean, one direction says pedestrian crossing, the other it doesn't," said Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo, board member. 

 

"It's a real pinch point in Dalton and it'll be more so once the new convenience store opens up." 

 

Bishop agreed, adding that people also do not slow down in that area. 

 

"The idea of a crosswalk will probably run counter to the crosswalk that already exists right in front of the post office with a flashing light to stop," Vice Chair John Boyle said. 

 

"I was under the impression when we got involved in that project, which took years, there was going to be a full red light stop there for a pedestrian to push a button, but it's only a flashing light."

 

While community members have expressed concerns about that area, state data presents another perspective, showing that meeting the state requirements for a traffic signal could be challenging.

 

"One of the things I would suggest is you look at the Mass. Crash Data Portal and look at Main Street and Route 8 [and] 9 as it goes through town," Town Manager Eric Anderson said. 

 

"What you'll see is that accidents are extremely well distributed all the way down the road and that most of them are collisions with a fixed object … that's the majority of accidents along that corridor — none of which is a signal going to alleviate. In fact, signals tend to cause more rear-end collisions." 

 

The state has established a series of warrants to determine when a signalized intersection is "acceptable," including traffic volumes, crash history, and data on fatal or serious injury crashes, 

 

According to crash data from the state Department of Transportation, that area does not meet the criteria for traffic control light, having 139 crashes along Main Street over a three-year period, with 13 occurring near the Daly Road intersection.

 

Of that 13, only two were angle crashes, the type of collisions most likely to be reduced by a new light. 

 

Reviewing the data even further back to 10 years, there isn't a pattern of intersection-related severe crashes. 

 

During that period, there were five nonfatal injury crashes. One involved a single vehicle striking a light pole, resulting in a suspected serious injury, but it was determined not to be attributable to the intersection. 

 

There was also one fatal crash involving an elderly driver who struck and killed a pedestrian; however, that incident occurred near, but was not related to, the intersection. 

 

The data showed three angle crashes directly attributable to the intersection and one cyclist sideswipe collision involving a cyclist traveling in the wrong direction.

 

"The majority of [accidents] are rear-end collisions of people that are driving on Main Street and don't involve the intersection," Anderson said, referencing the data he presented to the board. 

 

Unless crashes at that intersection go up 25 times what it's currently at, it does not meet the state's warrants, including crash data, traffic volume for the 24-hour warrant, the 8-hour warrant, or the peak warrant, he said. 

 

"What I'm looking at is saying that this is not something that the state would even possibly consider," Anderson said. 

 

Sometimes towns can argue their case and nudge the state if they just barely meet the warrants but this intersection is so far away from meeting that warrant, he said. 

 

"We're so far away from meeting that warrant, I would suggest that that's probably not realistic and that was the opinion of the Traffic Commission also. They voted not to refer this to the state,"  Anderson said, adding that if the board votes otherwise, he certainly will. 

 

The Traffic Commission did not make any suggested changes to the area, he said. 

 

The town has nothing to lose by asking that the state conduct a traffic study, especially with the new convenient store opening up in the near future, Pagliarulo said, adding he would feel much better if the town had solutions from the state. 

 

One of their recommendations will likely include making Daly Avenue a one-way based on the manual which outlines approved countermeasures before they go to signalized intersection, Anderson said. 

 

"Their goal is not to add more traffic signals on state roads," he said. 

 

If making that street a one-way improves safety then that's not a far-fetched idea, Pagliarulo said. 

 

Select Board member Jeannie Ingram recommended that they wait to see how the new businesses will affect the traffic pattern in that area. 

 

If the town goes to the state now, without data showing the need, it may be challenging to go back in the future, she said. 

 

"If traffic increases substantially, we may have a harder time going back to them in the next little while," she said, also advocating for the town to get more input from its Traffic Commission on ways to improve safety. 

 

The store has an anticipated opening date for September and the wheels at the state level move slowly, so if the state even looks at this by then it would be a "godsend," Pagliarulo said. 

 

"So, I think the timing is appropriate," he said. 

 

The motion to request the state conduct a traffic study at the corner of Daily Avenue and Main Street passed 3-1, with Ingram opposed and Marc Strout absent.