Traffic Commission

TRAFFIC COMMISSION 1 April 26, 2023 Prive tid efi b UT pet} fANLOUNUE OUGH 2023 JUN 23 PH &: 11 CITY OF MARLBOROUGH OFFICE OF TRAFFIC COMMISSION 140 MAIN STREET MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS 01752 Traffic Commission Minutes The Regular Meeting of the Traffic Commission was held on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 10:00 am. (The meeting was also recorded and is available to view online at the City of Marlborough’s website (www.marlborough-ma.gov). Members present: Chairman - Police Chief David Giorgi, Fire Chief Kevin Breen, Commissioner of Public Works Sean Divoll and City Clerk Steve Kerrigan. Also present: City Engineer Tom DiPersio, Assistant Civil Engineer Ashley Miller and Sgt. Ron Ney and Officer Andy Larose from the MPD Traffic Services Unit and local residents Peter and Martha Welsh. Minutes taken by Karen Lambert, MPD - Public Safety Administrative Assistant. Chief Giorgi started recording the meeting at 10:05 a.m. and began by welcoming everyone and making introductions. 1- Minutes Review of the minutes of the Traffic Commission meeting of Wednesday, March 29, 2023. VOTE TO APPROVE. All in Favor - Accept and Place on File. 2 - New Business 2a) Request for speed limit signs on Hager Street Chief Giorgi received an email from Peter Welsh on this issue. Peter and Martha Welsh were in attendance. Peter explained that they moved in on March 30" and were well aware that Hager Street is a popular cut-through street. They were surprised to find that there were no 25 mph speed limit signs in this area as there are on the Framingham TRAFFIC COMMISSION 2 April 26, 2023 section of the cut-through. They are requesting, for consistency, to post this area as 25 mph in both directions. Peter said that coming over the hill to the light, cars go even faster. He has also spoken to many neighbors, and they are all in agreement that when this section was repaved the speed has increased. They would also not be averse to speed bumps being added. Chief Giorgi asked Engineering if there are any regulations here? Tom DiPersio said, no the area is not currently regulated. Officer Larose said that it is currently considered “Thickly Settled - 30 mph”. Mr. DiPersio advised that we do have the ability to make this area “Thickly Settled -25 mph”. It would make sense to follow the same speed as the Framingham section. The City Council has approved an amendment that allows the city to choose “Thickly Settled — 25 mph” on a city-wide basis or by individual streets. Ashley Miller said that Framingham went to 25 mph on all “thickly settled” streets but the Marlborough City Council wanted to have a choice as to which areas were “Thickly Settled — 30 mph” and which were “Thickly Settled -25 mph”. Ashley Miller noted that it’s .8 miles to the first speed limit sign in Framingham. Chief Giorgi asked if it would make sense to put the electronic speed limit signs out and collect accurate data. All agreed this was a good idea. He explained for the Welsh’s benefit, how the electronic speed signs work and the types of information and reports that can be generated. He doesn’t disagree that the area should be kept consistent with Framingham. Ms. Miller said that she would also have to advise MA DOT of any changes. MOTION was made, seconded, duly VOTED to REFER to the POLICE DEPARTMENT to put the electronic speed signs out and share the reports with the Welsh’s and their neighbors. 2b) ‘Traffic light concern at the Simarano Drive/Forest Street Intersection Chief Giorgi received an email from Matthew Melanson on this issue. He works at a local company and travels through this intersection on his commute to work, Monday — Friday. He has noticed a timing issue with the lights at this intersection for several years but decided to try to do something when a coworker was describing an accident that had just taken place here. He said in his email, “The traffic defaults to Forest Street meaning that if the sensors on Ames/Simarano don’t sense any cars, the traffic lights for Ames/Simarano immediately turn to yellow. It will do this even if there are no cars waiting on Forest St. To make matters worse, the yellow light isn’t very long, and I believe that’s a safety concern, especially for the cars coming down steep Simarano Drive.” He also noted another issue when a car in the middle of the traffic queue on Simarano turns left onto Campus Drive. Other cars slow which creates just enough of a gap in traffic to trigger the yellow light at the intersection. This causes some cars to make a hard stop at the lights or speed up “to make the yellow light”. He’s also noticed people turning left on red lights because they enter the intersection, wait to turn, and the lights turns red before they have the change to make the turn. He also went on to describe the accident that occurred and believes it can be attributed to the timing of the lights. He thinks the traffic light should default to green for Ames/ TRAFFIC COMMISSION 3 April 26, 2023 Simarano and turn green for Forest Street when it senses cars are waiting and there are no cars on Ames/Simarano sensed for a few seconds. Ashley Miller said that she looked into the signal set up and it is operating the way it was designed, but she did observe some of the things that were consistent with Mr. Melanson’s email. She advised that we could have a Traffic Signal Consultant investigate further. They would do traffic counts and an analysis to see if any other changes were necessary. She does agree that Simarano/Ames has more traffic. The minimum green for Forest is 10 seconds and the minimum green for Simarano/Ames is 6 seconds and an extended time is not generated if there is a gap in traffic. If there is traffic there, it will stay green longer, for a maximum of 35 seconds on Simarano and 30 seconds on Forest Street. Commissioner Divoll asked if this issue would rise to the need to pay for a consultant? Tom DiPersio said that Mr. Melanson notes an accident but it’s not clear if the timing of the lights was a factor. Ms. Miller said that the lights do seem to be working. Chief Giorgi asked if reversing the minutes of the timing sequence is something that could be done without a consultant? Ms. Miller also noted that she does not know what the evening traffic flow is like. There was further discussion on the timing sequences and defaults. Ms. Miller said that when there are no vehicles there at all, the light stays on what was there last. If there are no cars on Forest Street, why are the lights defaulting to Forest Street, especially for 10 seconds? The lights were installed in 2014 and the newest apartments in the area where not there at the time. Traffic has definitely increased. If we were to change the lights in the am, we are not sure what effect it would have on evening traffic. Sgt. Ney said that Forest Street is very light compared to Simarano Drive and Ames Street. The timing is set by a traffic study at the time they are installed. Tom DiPersio said that if we want to address this specific concern, we should get a consultant involved, but he questioned if it was necessary. Steve Kerrigan asked about accident history. Officer Larose actually had dash cam video of the specific accident here. Both drivers had yellow lights. Chief Giorgi said that the PD can look into accident history and Ashley Miller could look at evening traffic. Fire Chief Breen noted that there are always complaints about intersections in the city. Chief Giorgi summarized that we can’t change the lights now because of 1 complaint. We have checked and they are currently working as designed. If problems persist, we can revisit the issue later. He will respond back to Mr. Melanson. MOTION was made, seconded, duly VOTED to REFER to Chief Giorgi to respond back to Mr. Melanson with an update on the discussion. 2c) Review of unwarranted stop sign locations This issue was added to the agenda at the request of Commissioner Divoll. Ashley Miller advised that she is working on traffic counts for the areas in question. Steve Kerrigan is assuming any unwarranted stop signs would be coming down, just like on Bigelow Street. Ms. Miller noted that a couple of them may be regulated. She specifically noted the areas of: e Beach Street TRAFFIC COMMISSION 4 April 26, 2023 e Clinton Street e Old Charter Road (T-Intersection) MOTION was made, seconded, duly VOTED to KEEP on the Agenda for further discussion. 3-Old Business 3a) Request for a crosswalk on Elm Street/Broad Street Area. Update: Chief Giorgi advised that he sent another email to Councilor Irish but has not received an answer. ACCEPT and PLACE ON FILE. 3b) TT parking issues on Northboro Road Update: At the last meeting, it was discussed that this area would be added to the “Time Limit Parking” section of the regulations. Two-hour parking was agreed upon. Chief Giorgi advised that he still needs the language to create the regulation. Engineering will forward this information to Chief Giorgi so he can create the regulation for a vote at the next meeting. Chief Giorgi asked to discuss an item not on the agenda. Chestnut Street No Parking Sign Chief Giorgi received an email from Councilor Irish for this issue after the agenda for this meeting was already set. Councilor Irish would like the Traffic Commission to consider adding a No Parkin Sign on Chestnut Street, on the same side as the sign for Handicapped Parking, from the corner of Mechanic Street up to the sign. He believes this will improve visibility for all and keep vehicles from parking too close to the Handicapped area. Chief Giorgi went out and looked at the street and agrees this area is tight. It could be an enforcement issue, i.¢., parking too close to an intersection. The handicapped spot is also in a difficult location on the slope. Ashley Miller confirmed that the handicapped spot is in the regulations. Steve Kerrigan said that maybe this particular spot should be looked at again as we are now renewing the permits annually. The handicapped spot may not even be needed anymore. Chief Giorgi pulled up the street location on google maps for reference. You can see the sign near the driveway for 17 Chestnut Street and a ramp on the house. These types of spots are now annual permits. It was also noted that the driveway for this house is on Mechanic Street. It also looks like the spot is within 20 feet of the intersection. The opposite side of the street is posted as No Parking Anytime. MOTION was made, seconded, duly VOTED to REFER to ENGINEERING to investigate and see if the handicapped spot is still needed. And REFER to the POLICE DEPARTMENT to enforce the City Ordinance for no parking within 20 feet of an intersection. TRAFFIC COMMISSION 2 April 26, 2023 That there being no further business of the Traffic Commission held on this date, the meeting adjourned at 10:35 am. Respectfully submitted, Karen L. Lambert Records Clerk Marlborough Police Department List of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting: -City of Marlborough Meeting Posting for the Traffic Commission Meeting on April 26, 2023, including meeting agenda. -Draft of Traffic Commission Minutes from Wednesday, March 29, 2023. -Email from Peter Welsh to the Police Department, dated 4/7/23, re: Speed limit signage for Hager Street. -Email from Matthew Melanson to Chief Giorgi, dated 3/28/23, re: Traffic Light Concern Simarano Dr/Forest St Intersection. Additional Handouts -Email from Councilor Irish to Chief Giorgi, dated 4/24/23, re: Chestnut St. No Parking Sign.