By Drew M. Bailey, Community Reporter
Shrewsbury – The Board of Selectmen voted in support of a plan for the construction of a traffic light and improved intersection at the White City Shopping Center at its March 20 meeting.
The plan proposes the construction of a signal and improved entrance to the White City Shopping Center on South Quinsigamond Street approximately 100 feet south of the existing entrance. The area has been determined to be a high traffic area with a high accident rate – in 2009 it was added to the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission's (CMRPC) inventory of high crash locations.
Charter Realty & Development Corp. (CRDC), the owner of the White City Shopping Plaza, requested that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) cover the project. When MassDOT declined to participate, CRDC decided to carry out the project on its own.
Karen Johnson, representing CRDC at the meeting, said the plan was essential because the existing White City entrance is “a very high traffic area, with higher than the district average for accidents.”
Robert Michaud, of MDM Transportation Consultants, the planning firm tasked with designing the new intersection, said the signal would knit the shopping center and the Shrewsbury Green residences together, improve parking, and provide better pedestrian access.
The improvements are expected to be completed by Aug. 1.