SHUTESBURY — A decorative berm featuring bushes, shrubs and flowers in front of the Highway Department may need to be removed or scaled back to improve traffic safety on a section of Leverett Road, according to a draft assessment completed by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
Yet while the vegetation on the berm is posing challenges, especially for Highway Department vehicles exiting the 59 Leverett Road property, members of the Garden Club are requesting that town officials hold off on any changes to the landscaped berm that 15 years ago was a weed-covered pile.
The Select Board on Tuesday agreed to establish an ad hoc committee to examine what should happen with the berm. Former Highway Superintendent Tim Hunting built it from street sweepings to replace a broken chain-link fence.
Those who improved the berm said the plantings were designed to shield the garages and heavy equipment from the road, and provide some beauty on that stretch of the main thoroughfare through town.
But Highway Superintendent Dave Grenier told the Select Board that the vegetation is becoming problematic.
“We’ve had many close calls trying to get in and out,” Grenier said. He said the grader and other vehicles have to back out, while even the pickup trucks must cross the white line along the road and worry about being clipped by vehicles going by at high speeds.
“It’s definitely been a problem. It’s a safety issue and it has caused us many close calls,” Grenier said.
Select Board Chairwoman Melissa Makepeace-O’Neil said one of the things highlighted in the report was that the berm doesn’t allow a proper line of sight, and it should be relocated back from the road or the tallest plantings should be removed.
“That was their suggestion based on their assessment,” Makepeace-O’Neil said.
Makepeace-O’Neil said she would like to see the changes made as soon as practical due to the possible liability. “I feel like this should be removed so Dave can have safety with his vehicles,” Makepeace-O’Neil said.
Part of the issue stems from the opening of the Shutesbury Library at 66 Leverett Road, across the street, earlier in the year. Since its opening, a portion of the highway yard has been used informally as overflow parking. However, for major library events, such as the ribbon-cutting, the overflow parking has been at the fire station on the same side of the street at 42 Leverett Road.
Rita Farrell, a member of the Garden Club, recalled that the Select Board asked volunteer gardeners in 2011 to remove the “weedy eyesore.”
“It has subsequently become a beloved feature in town and served as a gateway to welcome passers-by,” Farrell said.
The club has spent thousands of hours working on it and invested significant money, as well as maintaining other community gardens that both residents and visitors appreciate at Town Hall and the former M.N. Spear Library. The maintenance has been funded by town garden tours and wreath sells for the holidays, Farrell said.
Farrell, who was on the Select Board when FRCOG was engaged to do the report, said the assistance was sought because of the new intersection created with the library entrance.
Plans considered for traffic mitigation included installing a blinking yellow light there to slow people down or installing a crosswalk. Conversations have also included pruning and removing larger bushes.
“I think we want to respect the Highway Department’s needs to have it safe and come to some agreement,” Farrell said.
But Farrell said the draft report went beyond the original intent, including providing advice on where library overflow parking should be located and the potential building of a sidewalk along Leverett Road. Because of this, she suggested that the Select Board delay acceptance of the report.
Farrell said the Garden Club’s work should bring people together and the berm should be an attractive and manageable buffer for everyone.
Meryl Mandell, also of the Garden Club, said members put in many hours to create the garden, and it would be too much to ask the club to renovate the berm or move the plantings back from the road.
Mandell added that residents have said they love the various public gardens.
“It’s meaningful to people, they’re proud of it, and we just get a lot of positive feedback from that, and would hate to see it disappear,” Mandell said.
