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With annual Town Meeting set for March 24, a small group of residents attended a preview of the 28-article warrant.
The March 15 event, sponsored by the Westford League of Women Voters, was presented by Selectman Scott Hazelton, Assistant Town Manager Eric Heideman, and Finance Director Dan O’Donnell. League member Diane Wood moderated.
The two hot button issues — an effort to initiate plans for a center traffic signal and a push to reduce the use of plastic bags by local retail outlets — garnered the most discussion.
A citizen petition, Article 9, filed by Bill Taffel is seeking approval of a $55,000 allocation for the design study of a traffic light in the town center. The light would be installed at the intersection of Boston Road and Main Street near First Parish Church United. [Continue below]
Taffel noted that the town has a rare opportunity to have the state Department of Highway cover the cost of installing a traffic light under the umbrella of a proposed Boston Road Reconstruction Project filed by Town Engineer Paul Starratt in November.
Starratt is proposing $375K roadway rehabilitation and pedestrian improvements to Boston Road. He’s also seeking to make it compliant with the American Disability Act, and is proposing to add bicycle accommodations, drainage and water main improvements.
Taffel said the state is willing to pay for the construction of the traffic light in exchange for relinquishing the responsibility of maintaining Boston Road from the highway access ramps to Crown Road.
“The availability of the state funds itself is not the reason for the traffic light,” said Taffel, “but the need for the traffic light is a good reason to take advantage of the availability of the state funds to cover the cost. If we miss this opportunity and we have to put in a light later, it will be at full cost to the town.”
A 2014 report, entitled “Westford Town Center Traffic and Parking Study,” produced by the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments recommended the traffic light. At a Dec. 4, 2013 public hearing attended by about 40 residents, three voiced opposition to the light, according to the report.
In a projected presentation, Taffel listed the goals for Article 9 as follows: to improve safety for motorists and pedestrian; to reduce congestion during peak periods and shorten commutation times; and to preserve the character of the Common.
According to Westford police statistics, a total of 92 accidents occurred at the intersection between 2009 and 2017 — none involving fatalities or serious injuries, but Taffel said it would not be wise to wait until one occurred.
“We know the intersection would be safer with a light,” said Taffel. “We sort of have a history, as do a lot of towns, of waiting until there’s a serious accident before we put a light in. I would question whether we want to do that in this case.”
Taffel claims the construction cost of a traffic signal is $1 million — a pile of money the town would save if the state covered it. An ornamental light that would blend into the historic theme of the Common would cost an additional $60K which the state won’t cover, Taffel added.
Opponents of the article say a traffic light would detract from the historic authenticity of the Common and its aesthetics. In addition, selectmen voted not to recommend the article in their Feb. 13 meeting.
“We take a look at intersections in town in terms of their risk,” said Selectman Chairman Scott Hazelton. “And this is not a high risk intersection. The accident rate is 92 in nine years…none of them serious, compared to other spots in town where we’re putting lights in…from the selectmen’s standpoint, this is not a high priority intersection.”
Plastic Bags
Richard Coleman filed another citizen petition, Article 25, seeking to reduce the use of plastic bags by retailers in town.
“I like to think of this bylaw as a teaching moment,” Coleman said. “If the next time, you as a consumer, and as you leave a store, you are not given a thin film, single use plastic bag, you will stop and think, and ask why…I know and you know that we can get by by refusing almost all types of plastic bags if we really wish to do so…”
MassGreen lists 61 Massachusetts cities and towns that have enacted plastic bag regulations, including Arlington, Bedford, Framingham, Sudbury, and Concord.
Inherent in any new bylaw is the need to enforce it. That responsibility could fall to the town’s Health Department, where Director Jeff Stephens has expressed concerns.
“I am all for reduction of plastics,” he said in September when the bylaw was proposed, “but I’m not sure we should monitor stores where we don’t issue permits…” Stephens was referencing such retail outlets as clothing and hardware stores which, unlike food-related vendors, his staff members do not inspect.
The plastic bags provided by grocery stores and other retail outlets are composed of a synthetic polyethylene and are non-biodegradable, according to the Sierra Club. A document distributed by Sierra says the bags are harmful to wildlife because they are often mistaken for food. The bags cause death when animals ingest pieces because the plastic wraps around intestines or gets stuck in the animals’ throats and they choke to death.
“Plastic bags do not biodegrade and although they do fragment through mechanical action and photodegradation in the presence of light, these processes are slow taking an estimated 200+ years to complete,” says the Sierra Club document.
Town Meeting opens on March 24 at 10 a.m. at the Abbot School, 23 Depot St.
UPDATE – Correction: The traffic accident statistics were provided by the Westford Police Department.
