NORTHBOROUGH – Trucks may soon no longer be allowed to use Summer Street to cut from South Street to Route 20.
During its Dec. 2 meeting, the Select Board approved a heavy vehicle exclusion on Summer Street.
After discussing an exclusion on Oct. 28, the topic returned before the board on Nov. 18. The Traffic Safety Committee had previously decided not to recommend the exclusion.
“The board did not vote to recommend a heavy vehicle exclusion on Summer Street because that forced vehicles to have to come out of South Street onto Route 20. If they have to make a right-hand turn, they cannot do that without impeding traffic by either moving to the left lane, which is not allowed to make a right-hand turn, or cutting across and cutting off the left-hand turn lane coming off Route 20 onto South Street,” said committee Chair Bill Pierce.
At that time and after discussion, the Select Board tabled the decision, and the topic returned before the board Dec. 2.
Traffic count
The town had Weston & Sampson Engineers perform an engineering study for a proposed exclusion on the entirety of Summer Street. The road has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour.
Traffic counts on Summer south of School Street were done over three week days in September 2022. According to the study, there was an average of 161 heavy commercial vehicles a day, which is 6.9% of traffic. Counts were also conducted over three weeks in April to May 2023 north of School Street. The data indicated that there was an average of 94 heavy commercial vehicles a day, or 4.6% of all traffic.
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DPW Director Scott Charpentier said the exclusion would affect different types of vehicles, including box trucks, oil trucks and landscapers with trailers. These drivers would still be able to use Summer if they are doing business on the road.
According to a memo from Police Chief Brian Griffin to Town Administrator Stephanie Bacon, there have been eight reported crashes on Summer Street between Nov. 19, 2019 to Nov. 19, 2024. During the Dec. 2 Select Board meeting, Griffin noted that they did not have data on near-miss crashes.
Discussion
Chair Mitch Cohen asked Dec. 2 whether it was feasible to implement an exclusion for a finite period of time. Charpentier said if the town wanted to revert its decision, another study and report for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) would have to be conducted with the department making the final decision to lift it.
“I wanted to ask the question, not to suggest it, but as an understanding that there are different opinions on this,” Cohen said. “We have, particularly for Summer Street, residents that are very interested in that, but at the same time, the Traffic Safety Committee … as was staff was cautious about implementing that. Both with very good reason.”
He said that they did not factually know how many trucks would make the turn onto Route 20 as a result of the exclusion. Select Board member Lisa Maselli said she saw a tractor trailer successfully turn right off Church Street. She wondered why trucks would not be able to turn right off South Street.
Route 20 is a state road, and Maselli argued that the state has to be responsible for what they did.
“It’s kind of crazy to go, ‘Oh, it’s up to us to take care of what the state’s roads are supposed to do.’ When in fact, I think our responsibility is to the residents, not to what is happening on Route 20,” Maselli said.
Member Laura Ziton echoed that her gut would be to implement the exclusion.
“That’s a very narrow, highly-dense neighborhood. When those trucks go by, it’s very noticeable, and it’s affecting quality of life, based on the feedback,” she said.
