By Kim Siebert MacPhail
A new emergency traffic signal at Fletcher Road will be included in the reconstruction design for the intersection of Great Road/South Road/Springs Road, an addition to a previously-approved contract with engineering firm Vannasse Hangen Bruslin, Inc. (VHB). At their meeting on August 5, the Selectmen voted to amend the road betterment design specifications so that they now include a traffic signal at Fletcher Road that allows emergency responders to more quickly halt south bound and east bound traffic.
Adrienne St. John of the DPW presented the reasoning behind the request to amendment to the contract, saying that— with the current system— “the emitter on the vehicles doesn’t have enough time to capture the pre-empt system and turn the signals to green before the [lead emergency vehicle] gets to the intersection….The [proposed] hardwired connection between the station and both the existing and proposed traffic signals can be activated well in advance of their approach to the intersection. The system can also be used when the fire engines are returning to the station so that a firefighter doesn’t have to get out of the vehicle to direct traffic as the engine is backing into the station.”
Chapter 90 funds in the amount of $57,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will be used to pay for the additional design costs. VHB’s itemization of these additional charges includes preliminary design; final design; construction plans, specifications and estimate; contract documents; design of traffic preemption system; rehabilitation of existing pavement; utility system modifications; drainage system modifications, application of pavement markings; installation of signs; traffic management during construction; soil borings; and field reconnaissance.
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