Springfield light approved

Installation of a new four-way stoplight at the intersection of routes 11 and 5, near Exit 7 of Interstate 91, got the green light from the Springfield Select Board Monday night.

   

Springfield light approved Rutland Herald | February 15, 2017 By SUSAN SMALLHEER STAFF WRITER This photo shows an aerial view of the intersection in Springfield that was approved for a stoplight by the Select Board this week. PROVIDED PHOTO This photo shows an aerial view of the intersection in Springfield that was approved for a stoplight by the Select Board this week. PROVIDED PHOTO SPRINGFIELD — Installation of a new four-way stoplight at the intersection of routes 11 and 5, near Exit 7 of Interstate 91, got the green light from the Springfield Select Board Monday night. The project, a joint state- and federally-funded project, would place the traffic light at the intersection near the Holiday Inn Express, the Circle K truck stop and the state’s parkand ride parking lot. The board voted unanimously to support the project outlined by the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Construction wouldn’t begin until 2018, said Erin Lewis, project engineer. Springfield Police Chief Douglas Johnston said he had been pushing for a traffic light at the intersection ever since the state built the Southern State Correctional Facility a short distance from the intersection. Lewis said the $350,000 project would widen the road slightly to allow for a turning lane. There have been numerous accidents through the years at the intersection, including one or two fatalities, Johnston said. Johnston said when he first pushed for the traffic light more than 10 years ago, the state said traffic counts did not support the need. Now, the state’s consultant said Monday night, traffic counts are up. Select Board member George McNaughton said public sentiment was running strongly against the need for a stoplight, but, he said, he was convinced it would help make the intersection safer. While the board liked the idea of a traffic light to help make the troublesome intersection safer, they did not like another nearby project that would have changed the alignment of the southbound off-ramp. The state’s traffic consultant, Sebago Technics, proposed eliminating the last 320 feet of the offramp and creating a full stop at a sharp, 45-degree stop. Currently, the southbound off-ramp merges with Route 11 via a yield sign. The board, by a 4-0 vote in the absence of Select Board member Stephanie Thompson, sent a nonbinding recommendation to the Agency of Transportation that a simpler and cheaper solution was to simply replace the yield sign at the merge with a stop sign. Johnston invited John Graves, of Springfield, a local truck driver who ran a long-distance trucking school, to the meeting to give a truck driver’s point of view. Graves suggested installing a stop sign at the end of the off- ramp, rather than create a sharp-angled turn. Springfield Select Board member Walter Martone pointed out that while the state was saying it wanted to make the changes because of numerous accidents in the area, the accidents occurred exactly where the state wanted to funnel the traffic, and not at the end of the off-ramp. Select Board member George McNaughton said the state’s solution would create chaos where there wasn’t any. The state’s consultant on the project, Stephen Sawyer, of Sebago, said the two projects were originally joined, but are now separate, with the off-ramp project now combined with a big paving project slated for this summer. Lewis said the paving project, which includes reconstruction of the offramp, had already gone out to bid. But she said the off-ramp portion could be easily canceled. She said an interim solution of putting in the stop sign might be a good way of testing its effectiveness. Sawyer, who lingered in the meeting room doorway for the Select Board’s votes, gave a thumbs up.