WHATELY — The town is adding stop signs to six roads, including the triangle where Christian Lane and Chestnut Plain Road meet in front of the former Center School.
The Select Board approved the installation of the stop signs this month. The list of intersections includes: Westbrook Road at Haydenville and Chestnut Plain roads, Dickinson Hill Road at Haydenville Road, Chestnut Plain Road (traveling south) at Christian Lane, Chestnut Plain Road/Depot Road at Christian Lane and Williamsburg Road at Conway Road.
“We had a member of the public talk about stop signs and now we have a lot of stop signs being proposed,” said Town Administrator Brian Domina, adding that most of the intersections involve less-traveled roads meeting more heavily used roads.
The main focus of the Select Board’s discussion was the installation of stop signs around the triangle of Chestnut Plain and Depot roads where they meet with Christian Lane in front of the former Center School, which Highway Superintendent Keith Bardwell said he received several emails about.
While showing a diagram with recommendations proposed by the state Department of Transportation — including a reconfiguration of the road the board wasn’t keen on — Bardwell said people have asked for the yield signs to be replaced for a long time.
“This is not the first time this intersection has been discussed,” he said. “While there haven’t been any serious injuries, those were the recommendations from MassDOT.”
Selectboard member Fred Baron said a “stop sign would help” alleviate safety concerns at the intersection but “short of reengineering the entire intersection,” not much else could be done.
“It’s hard to see at that intersection regardless of what sign is there,” Baron said. “And there’s not much you can do about coming up Christian Lane if people are going too fast.”
Police Chief James Sevigne Jr. said there has been a “long discussion about where to put stop signs” in town and at this point, an easy solution could be just to put a stop sign at all the intersections in town.
“Put a stop sign at every intersection and be done with it,” he said.
Bardwell said he and Sevigne will take a look at other intersections around town and bring their findings to the Select Board.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.