Traffic delays Traffic continue downtown
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - Traffic trouble isn't a new topic of conversation in town, but it's certainly something that's being re-examined lately with increased vigor.

"Now they want to study traffic?" asked Marty Solomon, owner of Olympic Pizza located at 1 West Main St., on the rotary in the center of town. "Shouldn't they have worried about that before the new shopping plaza went in?"

Bay State Commons, a retail and residential development that will include about two dozen stores and restaurants and 44 luxury condominiums, is located about one-tenth of a mile east of the rotary on Route 30. It opened in late October. At this time only about three stores and two restaurants are open for business.

"Every night I'm stuck in the traffic for a half-hour," Solomon said. "It's that way every day. Thirty minutes from the light at Lyman Street to here. What's that, half a mile? It was so bad I wanted to jump from the car."

While Bay State Commons is being blamed for Westborough's rush-hour woes that include morning and evening stand-stills in both directions of Route 30 as well as backups on Milk and South streets, traffic has been bad along the road for years.

"It was always slow going on Route 30 in rush hour, but it's gotten worse since they put the traffic light in at Lyman Street," said Gene Colangelo, owner of Westborough Shopping Center on Lyman Street. "It's created gridlock not only on Route 30, but Lyman Street as well. My office overlooks Lyman Street and I look out my window every night at five o'clock and traffic is bumper to bumper in both directions."

Sue Abladian, chair of the Board of Selectmen, knows that all too well.

"I've been stuck trying to get out of the Westborough Shopping Center three times recently because Lyman Street was absolutely gridlocked in both directions," Abladian said. "I spoke with Gene [Colangelo] about it and he told me that is was a nightly occurrence. He told me he has some ideas that he thinks would alleviate traffic flow."

Other selectmen are concerned, as well.

"Traffic is actually going pretty well, but there are some things that can be improved upon," Emery said. "There are some delays but not to the extent of the delays we witnessed when Bay State Commons first opened, when there was still road construction as well as construction at the entrance. That said, however, I think there is plenty of room for improvement."

To that end, Emery suggested at the Dec. 11 Board of Selectmen meeting that the town form a committee to continue to look at traffic in the downtown area throughout the winter and into the spring.

Emery's suggested that the committee include Police Chief Alan Gordon, Fire Chief Walter Perron, Town Planner Jim Robbins, Town Engineer Carl Balduf and Public Works Director John Walden.

Abladian would like to see Colangelo have input.

"I told Leigh [Emery] she should have Gene [Colangelo] meet with the group and share his ideas," Abladian said. "We want all the input we can get to improve this situation."

Emery said she thinks the group's efforts should focus on five areas: motorists looking for Bay State Commons; delays east-bound on Route 30 from the rotary past Bay State Commons; the function of the traffic signal at Prospect Street; accidents at the railroad bridge underpass involving oversized trucks; and the backup between the traffic signal at Lyman Street and the one at the entrance to Bay State Commons.

"I have discussed the matter individually with Chief Gordon as well as John [Walden] and Jim [Robbins] and gotten their general observations," Emery said, "and I think there are ways these observations can be addressed and the problems we are having mitigated without conducting a full traffic study."