Collision Course

by Glenn C. Koenig, Webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Maynard, MA - After decades of delays, Maynard will finally be getting traffic signals at what some have called the second most dangerous intersection in town.  Work on the project is scheduled to start in mid August.
The intersection in question is located where Concord Street crosses Brown and Haynes Streets, just north of the Cumberland Farms convenience store.

In the photo here, the main traffic signals will be located at the intersection itself, where the black car can be seen making a right turn.  In this image, Haynes Street is at the right, while the Assabet River Rail Trail is at the left.  Haynes Street ends at the intersection however; Route 27 continues as Brown Street which runs north from there up to the border with Acton.

The makeover will include more than just a traffic signal; sidewalks and roadways will be reconstructed and repaved and additional signals will be added at nearby crosswalks, with one further down where Acton street intersects with Nason Street.

According to the contractor, I. W. Harding Construction Co. Inc., the work is planned to start mid August and take approximately 3 to 4 weeks.  All the underground conduits and foundations for the equipment will be installed, with the road and sidewalk surfaces to be completed by the end of that period.

However, the equipment for the signals themselves, including the mast arms, along with the control box, and pedestrian push buttons, still must be custom fabricated and will not be installed until much later in the Fall.  The image to the right is an artist's rendering of the design.

This project is being done to help prevent accidents and injuries at the intersection, which have become more frequent in the last few decades as the volume and speed of traffic has increased significantly.
Recently, I contacted Lieutenant Brian Cushing of the Maynard Police Department for some background information regarding this story.  He and his staff compiled accident data covering the past three years (since January 1st, of 2021) at this location.  They found records of ten accidents, with four of them considered to be serious collisions, where drivers or pedestrians were injured.
One long time resident of Maynard contacted me last year, urging me to report on the hazards at this location.  Her car was struck by another vehicle some years ago.  The other vehicle had turned left from Haynes Street unexpectedly, just as she was entering from Concord Street.  Fortunately, she was not injured, but both vehicles were heavily damaged and her car was totaled.  Other residents I interviewed told me that they simply avoid this intersection altogether and use other routes instead.

The intersection is a complex one, due to the path of the Assabet River Rail Trail (ARRT), which crosses Concord Street, very close by. Acton Street also crosses Concord Street only a few feet from there.  In the map shown here, the ARRT is depicted as a thin green line that runs north/south, parallel to Haynes Street.

A major issue is drivers' inability to see the intersection as they approach from the south, while passing by Cumberland Farms.  This is due to the curve in Haynes Street with the properties at the right restricting their view.
If a few cars are lined up at the intersection, waiting to turn, then a driver coming around this curve will not see them until the very last minute, and therefore have very little time to stop.  This risks a rear-end collision with the last car in line.
As that portion of Acton Street is one way headed south, drivers cannot just drive up Acton Street;  they must follow the curve to the right, instead.
To mitigate this problem, a "RED Signals Ahead" warning sign, will be installed where it will be visible to warn drivers at they approach.

The town's web site has a Project Page: 
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/510/Project-Page
... which has links to a variety of documents describing the full design, in detail, along with others that describe the steps taken by the town to get the project funded.

(To better organize the rest of this story, I'll use a question and answer format from here, down.)

Question:  What can drivers expect during construction?
Answer:  Much of the work will render the intersection impassible at various times, similar to  when Eversource Gas had to do work in the area back in May and June.

---

Question:  Why are we having two traffic disruptions like this within only a few months?
Answer:   Eversource gas had been planning to replace old gas mains in this area for some time, as some of the original pipes were so old that they were more prone to leaks.  The town did not want to install a new intersection with new pavement, updated sidewalks, etc., only to have Eversource come along and dig it all up a short time later, so the town arranged with Eversource to do their work ahead of time.

This is an issue often faced by cities and towns, where government departments and various utility companies must work together to prevent the destruction of previous work or damage to each other's underground infrastructure (such as water mains, sewers, drains, gas lines, electrical & cable wires, etc.).  The idea is also to prevent uneven road surfaces and pot holes for drivers, or waste tax money for constant repaving.

Question:  Will there be dedicated left turn lanes?
Answer:  No. The timing of the signals may be arranged to provide "delayed green" opportunities for turning traffic, but that has yet to be finalized.  As for lanes themselves, there is simply no room to expand the width of the roadway to create additional lanes. The rail trail and park are at one side and private homes line the other side.  Not only that, if we were to substantially change the layout of the roads, the cost of the project would be much higher.  A previous plan, years ago, proposed changing the location and width of the roadway, but that was never implemented (see "Why did it take so long" below).

Question:  What other impacts will occur during construction?
Answer:  A clerk at the Cumberland Farms convenience store told me that they lost $7,000 during the Eversource project last spring, due to all the detours.  However, my calls to Cumberland Farms headquarters were not returned, so I was unable to confirm this figure with them.

Question:  What is all this going to cost the town?
Answer:  The project, when completed will be somewhere around one million dollars.  However, approximately half that amount is coming from grants from state government, some of which is federal money that was earmarked for funding projects of this type (see Why did it take so long for details).

Question:  Why is it so expensive?  Just for one traffic light?
Answer:  Many years ago, traffic and pedestrian volumes were much lower.  It was enough to just erect two poles, hang signals from a wire rope strung between them, install a "dial controller" (see illustration at right) in a box mounted at one side, run some electric power to that from a nearby utility pole, connect everything up, and be done with it.  Even then, the cost of doing just that much was many thousands of dollars.

Today's traffic volume has increased dramatically.  People are more likely to drive faster these days and we don't have enough police to effectively prevent most of them from doing so.  When traffic is heavier, pedestrians have to wait longer to cross safely, and sometimes people get impatient and start taking more risks.  So now we have pedestrian signals, push buttons, and sound signals for the sight impaired.  In general, we now have more federal and state requirements for pedestrians with various kinds of disabilities to be able to cross safely.
Although this may seem like needless government regulation to some people, it's good to remember that any one of us could become a "person with a disability" at any time, either through an accident or illness.
To get some idea of the complexity of the project, here is just one page from the plans that the contractor must implement.

Modern traffic control systems have become much more complex in order to accommodate all these new requirements.  Today's solid state digital systems must respond to "calls" from pedestrian push buttons, as well as from a digital imaging system (which can "see" when cars or bicycles are present), and coordinate signal timing for efficient traffic flow.  The electronics must withstand extremes of temperature, humidity, as well as vibration from heavy traffic nearby, and still continue to function.

Question:  Why does the project extend down to the intersection with Nason Street?
Answer:  Many pedestrians cross at the corner of Acton and Nason  Streets because of the proximity to the Cumberland Farms convenience store. To help with this, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) signals, along with pedestrian push buttons, will be installed on either side of Acton Street (see the illustrations here) for increased pedestrian safety.

Question:  Why did it take so long to finally get this done?
Answer:  There are essentially two reasons:  Funding, and disagreement on what to do.  Recently, I talked with David Mark, a long time resident in Maynard.  He told me that around 20 years ago, there was some federal grant money available, so the town developed a plan to change the course of Brown and Haynes Streets by moving them both to the west, to improve the “sight lines,” for drivers coming up Route 27 from Maynard Center, as described, above.  The intersection would end up very close to (or in place of) the “Cat Cottage” building, which is still there now.
At that time, the Assabet River Rail Trail had not yet been created.  The railroad had long since been abandoned, after the last trains ran in the 1960s, so that was not a factor.

But there was significant resistance from neighbors who objected to the idea that this would eliminate the park there.  The proponents of the plan referred to it as a mere "traffic island" instead.  The decision was eventually put as a question on the agenda for Town Meeting.  In the long run, the controversy took so long to resolve, that by the time it was all over, the funds were no longer available.

In the years since, no one was able to come up with an alternative source of funding.  Then, after the pandemic hit, Congress passed legislation known as the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (also known as the "ARPA spending bill").  Funds were allotted to the various states, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Maynard town government officials submitted documentation for the need of such a project to the state Department of Transportation. They decided that this project was "in line with the intent" of the ARPA Spending Bill, and earmarked $500,000 to be awarded to Maynard, in June of 2022.
In the two years since then, the design had to be worked out, a request for bids was sent out to contractors, the bids had to be received back and evaluated, and the project awarded to the winner.  Some changes were made to the original plan to add specific safety features during the process, and to adjust for increasing costs of construction during that time.  The additional funds required were voted at Town Meeting this year, in order to fully fund the project.

(OK, just two more, I promise!)

Question:  What's the deal with Haynes Street?
Answer:  Haynes Street is perhaps the shortest street in all of Maynard.  In the mid 1800s, prior to the creation of Maynard as a town, Warren A. Haynes purchased a tract of land in the area, originally owned by Ezekiel Brown.  He laid out Brown and Tremont streets, and Haynes Street was named after him.  This is according to the book, “A brief History of Maynard Mass.” by William H. Gutteridge, published in 1921 by the Town of Maynard.

Throughout the rest of the 1800s, all transportation was horse drawn, except for the railroad, and most roads were still unpaved.  The plaque posted at the corner of Concord and Acton streets tells the story of how the watering trough was placed there (see photo).

Question:  Why does this news story have so much technical detail?
Answer:  Right now, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is a big thing in education, but why should we just limit that to young people?  Don’t we all live in a world where these aspects are major influences in our lives?  When it’s time to set public policy, and we focus on the politics but leave the technology to the “experts,” aren’t we just cheating ourselves?

The myth is that most scientists, engineers, and mathematicians are as bad at communicating as most political science majors are at understanding something like magnetic induction.  Isn’t it time we found more ways to help each other understand these concepts, across the board?  Can’t we actually put some work into explaining things in the language of the person listening as well as that of the person talking?

I’ve read numerous news stories in the past that left me feeling cheated when the author glosses over the very technology that I find important.  Young people are born with a thirst for knowledge and experience, so let's give them as many options as we can to satisfy that yearning.  Perhaps a 10 year old isn't old enough to drive ... yet.  But if they read this story, it may help them be a better driver when the time comes.  This is certainly not an "R" rated story!

So, here’s my invitation to you, dear reader.  Read what you want and skip what you don’t want, as you wish.  Alternatively, if you want to understand more, please don't be afraid to ask.  As I see it, the more we all know, the better we'll be that much more prepared to live in this highly technological world.

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