The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

letters to the editor

Letter to the editor: intersection “both a bane and a blessing”

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To the editor:

Recent letters in various press outlets are, once again, calling attention to concerns about safety at the Five Corners intersection in the Lincoln Historic District (the “flower pot intersection”). And, as town officials have recently reminded us, our roadways are a “tricky business” and what’s old is new again.

The Five Corners intersection, like many of other area of Lincoln roadways, is both a bane and a blessing for those who travel on them and those who manage them. They are an integral part of Lincoln’s character—and a real challenge for the town officials who are responsible for providing for the public safety while protecting community character.

These quirky roadways are a product of topography and history. The paths of the 1700s—the paths of least resistance—are, for the most part, the same paths we travel today. The land dictated the layout of farms and fields, the first settlement being made in the 1600s. Increased settlement led to the creation of pathways beginning in the early 1700s, and these paths logically skirted the edges of the arable land and navigated wetlands. Needless to say, these paths twisted and turned to preserve land and also to provide viable passage for carts. Stone walls are evidence of famers moving rocks out of fields and creating the edges of fields and passageways.

The original path network, which radiated from the five corners, did not connect to the North and South Great Road throughways until the mid-1750s. It is this winding system of paths, edged with stone walls and shaded by ancient trees that create the beauty and serenity of our scenic roadways. That is the blessing of our history and the bane of modern day traffic demands. It is those paths that went from dirt to gravel to blacktop that our town must manage.

As reported by town officials, over the past 15 year, the town has had traffic engineers do analysis of each and every intersection, sometimes repeating that exercise when new concerns and ideas were presented. In addition, two volunteer Ad Hoc Traffic and Roadway Committees have done extensive study involving much citizen input and offered many thoughtful recommendations. When the town began a roadway restoration project of the major roadways in 2009 and 2010, it went neighborhood by neighborhood to review all concerns, revisit professional and committee recommendations, and engage further traffic and roadway engineers. In addition consulting with Public Safety as of critical importance as navigating these roadways by our ambulances and fire trucks is, indeed, “tricky business!” All this work guided location of signage and crosswalks, intersection configuration, and public safety protocols to conduct regular review of safety issues.

In 2012, the selectmen reviewed all studies and recommendations and put in place a set of guidance policies based on these documents to ensure all future roadway work would follow a professional rational. A standing committee, the Roadway and Traffic Committee (RTC), was established to guide future work on our roadways and roadsides. Town officials have invited all to the meetings of both the RTC and the selectmen to discuss ideas. As they have wisely cautioned, many have been down this path before.

Interesting suggestions have been made to fine-tune the historic Five Corners intersection and are worthy of further review. A review of accident reports would offer a reality check against the perception of danger, as was done in 2008. But in the end, while we tweak, fine-tune and refine, the history and topography of Lincoln has dictated our scenic pathways and which will continue to be a bane… and a blessing.

Sincerely,

Sara Mattes
71 Conant Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Five Corners roundabout?

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To the editor:

I share concern #3 in Jonathan Rapaport’s letter to the editor. A big pickup truck towing a horse trailer southbound on Bedford Road turned left in front of the flower pot onto Trapelo and almost nailed my car while I waited by the stop sign. How about a rotary/roundabout, with the flower pot in the middle? I’ve seen some compact roundabouts in villages in England.

Sincerely,

Roy Harvey
Stonehedge Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: suggested fixes for Five Corners

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(Editor’s note: This letter was originally addressed to Ken Bassett and Noah Eckhouse in response to their June 23  letter to the editor.)

To the editor:

While I agree that rerouting Weston Road or installing traffic lights may be farfetched fixes for Five Corners, there have been some constructive suggestions posted in the Lincoln Squirrel. And while signage and traffic management may be surprisingly complex, we could certainly move a stop sign ten feet without having to commission a speed study.

I have read here a few fixes from knowledgable townspeople that would likely improve the safety and efficiency of Five Corners. They are inexpensive and can be implemented quickly, unless my understanding of such matters is totally naive (always a possibility). I’ll try to paraphrase to spare anyone having to search past posts. In order of urgency:

  1. Move the STOP sign on Trapelo all the way up to the crosswalk, so that cars pulling up may easily see the intersecting roads. Currently cars coming up Trapelo must stop awkwardly short of the intersection. Drivers may even be forgiven for believing that after stopping, they can blindly proceed without having to yield. In fact, I see Peter Braun do this all the time. (No, not really. Peter is by all accounts an impeccable driver.) Note that such a change would necessitate installing an additional STOP (or YIELD) sign for cars turning right onto Bedford Road.
  2. For traffic approaching Five Corners from Sandy Pond Road, reinforce the need for drivers to keep right before the island. I have seen otherwise competent drivers keep left because of the currently ineffectual signage. My vote is for two-way reflective yellow round ceramic pavement markers to be placed atop the single yellow lane divider.
  3. For some drivers coming down Bedford Road wanting to turn left onto Trapelo, there is confusion about whether they must turn before or after the flower pot/urn/horse trough(??). This could be solved with the same ceramic pavement markers mentioned above, or else with flexible traffic delineator posts. (A quick Google search will quickly identify these common road markers.)
  4. For the eleven drivers approaching the intersection from Weston Road, I can only counsel an abundance of hesitation and forbearance. This intersection will forever treat us unfairly.

Additional police presence would be welcome, too. But if you implement these few needed tweaks, the police would be left mostly (one hopes) to enforce civility. Too many drivers plow through the intersection without waiting their turn. If the police do want to put resources into Five Corners, they might consider directing traffic during rush hour. They could relieve bottlenecks by waving through many cars at once.

Thank you for inviting input at public meetings. But please also be receptive to solutions and ideas that reach you through other venues. Lincolnites trust you to make and implement sound decisions.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Rapaport
Winter Street

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: traffic flow management is “a tricky business”

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To the editor:

Traffic seems to be on all of our minds lately, after a difficult winter and a busy spring. We note renewed interest among some for review of traffic control signs and measures currently in place at the Five Corners intersection. This is a complex intersection, and what may feel like “obvious” design changes to the non-traffic engineer could in fact be very difficult to execute. Several generations of Town Traffic Committees have taken up the challenge.

The current configuration is the result not of bureaucratic inertia, but instead of careful study and consideration of traffic control regulations and best practices. The geometry, signage and striping of the intersection has been fine-tuned periodically. Further refinements to enhance driver and pedestrian safety may be available and appropriate, and we will take a hard look. Understand, however, that we go into this analysis informed by the work of those who preceded us, and that the issues, challenges, and constraints are often times more complex than might appear.

We’ve learned that managing the safe and efficient flow of traffic at Five Corners or elsewhere in town is tricky business. For example, by state law, speed limits can be adjusted only after a speed study, and must be set, with few exceptions (e.g., school zones), at the 85th percentile of the speed of cars currently using the road. (Read this last sentence carefully: what it means is that by state law, speed limits may actually increase!) And when considering whether to install stop signs, crosswalks, or striping, the town must consult the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the accepted industry standard (you can find the Massachusetts version easily via Google). Local knowledge is an important practical consideration, but regulations sometimes limit our options.

All of that said, one immediate tool at our disposal is enforcement of existing regulations and signage. To that end, we have already asked our police to redouble their efforts in enforcement and visibility at the five-way stop. As always, our Roadway and Traffic Committee meetings are open to the public and we welcome your participation. We also hold an open forum at every selectman’s meeting. Please come join us and let us know what is on your mind. It is through an engaged dialogue and not only letters to the editor that we can all work together to tackle these challenges.

Sincerely,

Ken Bassett (chair, Roadway and Traffic Committee)
Noah Eckhouse (chair, Board of Selectmen)

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: switch to renewable electricity sources

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Editor’s note: This letter is signed by all members of the Lincoln Green Energy Technology Committee (GETC).

To the editor:

Residential electricity use can account for one-third or more of our personal carbon dioxide emissions, but Lincoln residents can now switch to renewably generated electricity with a short telephone call. Your bill and electricity distribution will still come from Eversource (formerly NSTAR), but the Mass Energy Consumer Alliance‘s Green Power program ensures that your electricity consumption will be matched 100% by electricity generated from local renewable sources supplied to Eversource. You only have to choose whether you would like those renewable sources to be 100% wind-generated or 100% renewably generated using 74% low-impact hydro, 17% wind, 7% solar and 2% gas digesters (from cows).

A couple of Lincoln families have already made the switch. Through their affiliation with Mass Audubon, the Klem family heard about Mass Audubon’s Make the Switch campaign and switched to the Mass Energy 100% wind-generated electricity program. This program utilizes Massachusetts wind farms to generate their electricity. The switch augments the renewable electricity being generated from the Klems’ rooftop solar array to provide them with 100% renewable electricity. It’s costing them 3.8 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour) above the typical Eversource price.

“This is an easy, efficient, and effective way to green up the power you use. It’s a great opportunity to promote the development of wind energy and well worth the small increase in cost,” Sue and Chris Klem say.

The Watkinson family switched to the Mass Energy 100% renewably generated electricity program that utilizes a mix of New England sources including low-impact hydro, wind, solar, and gas digesters to generate their electricity. They switched from a renewable electricity-generating IPP (Independent Power Producer) in order to promote more local generation and renewable investment. It costs them 2.4 cents per kWh above the typical Eversource price per kWh.

“It was difficult for us to build an effective solar array because our roof has very little southern exposure. But with one phone call and for the monthly cost of $15—the equivalent of eating lunch out—we were able to switch to 100% renewably generated electricity. This renewably generated electricity also charges our Chevrolet Volt, so our car is mostly fueled by renewable electricity,” says GETC member Peter Watkinson.

This approach can enable 100% of your electricity needs through renewable sources and is particularly helpful if solar-generated electricity is difficult on your roof (not large enough to generate all of your electricity or not facing south, etc). You only have to decide whether you would prefer 100% wind-generated or 100% renewably generated (multiple sources) electricity. Your charge of 3.8 or 2.4 cents per kWh is also tax-deductible.

With your electricity bill in hand, you can call Mass Energy at 800-287-3950 ext. 5 and sign up to switch to renewable electricity today, or go to www.massenergy.org/renewable-energy/greenpowerform.

Sincerely,

The members of the Lincoln Green Energy Technology Committee

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: reroute Weston Road?

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To the editor:

In his recent letter to the editor, Gerry Lattimore is right: I’ve seen quite a few vehicles coming from Sandy Pond Road zipping down the wrong lane recently—very dangerous.

Another aspect of this intersection—besides unclear markings/signage and bad sightlines—is the tremendous breadth of the intersection, which makes it harder to judge when one should enter the intersection and also encourages some drivers to try to “beat” oncoming vehicles out of turn. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve nearly had a head-on collision due to a vehicle coming down Bedford Road following another through the intersection (or not seeing my turn signal) as I attempt to turn left onto Sandy Pond.

One way to solve all these problems (though admittedly an expensive one) would be to take Weston Road out of the equation. This would make the intersection far smaller, less complex, and much safer. But rerouting Weston Road would be—shall we say—controversial, to put it mildly!

Sincerely,

Allen Vander Meulen
30 Beaver Pond Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: yet more thoughts on Trapelo Road sign

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To the editor:

I have read several letters to the editor on this subject, and I am surprised this is still a topic of conversation.

  1. It doesn’t take much work to flip open one of the catalogs DPW likely gets every week with all these options for road signs, which have designs matching the style of the area. We aren’t the only town with this “problem” of historic significance trumping public safety.
  2. I wonder if folks on the historic preservation side of the argument realize the double standard evident to anyone subjected to that intersection. On one side, we can’t get sign moved for aesthetic reasons, yet on the other side of the intersection we have ugliness that is that pile of advertising signs.

In a town with a large number of residents who are responsible for creating some of the most influential technology, innovations, and companies, I find it surprising this issue is still a conversation for that many years.

Maybe those stop signs need to be taken out and proper five-way traffic signal fitting the style of the area (yes, from the same catalog). While we are at it, let’s install sensors in the road, so every morning and evening traffic is managed better, and our fellow residents around that intersection can breathe that air little easier.

Sincerely,

Apolinaras “Apollo” Sinkevicius
124 Tower Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: pavement markings at Trapelo Road intersection?

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To the editor:

We live at the five-way intersection at the corner of Bedford and Sandy Pond Road where Trapelo Road ends at at the planted watering trough. I totally agree with Barbara Slayter’ s observations and suggestions, particularly the second, of writing “stop” on the pavement parallel to the pedestrian path—the point from which the whole intersection can finally be seen. That step would be likely to solve the problem.

I hope the problem can be solved without additional vertical signage. Recent new signs around town have seemed excessively large and colorful.

Another dangerous element at the intersection, which I see often from my kitchen window, is cars exiting Sandy Pond Road via the left-hand side of the forked mouth of the road, sometimes very fast. The cars properly entering Sand Pond road zip in via the same fork fast. Perhaps arrows painted on the pavement indicating “in” and “out” (just arrows, not words) would reinforce the correct use of the fork.

Sincerely,

Gerry Lattimore
2 Bedford Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Ideas for Trapelo Road intersection

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To the editor:

I am a resident of Lincoln living on Trapelo Road near the five-way intersection and have negotiated that intersection several times a day for most of the past 25 years. I can attest to the difficulties of doing so despite the fact that each of the streets has a stop sign with an additional sign indicating “five-way” stop. The two streets  posing the most difficulty are Weston Road and Trapelo Road since drivers emerging from either street cannot easily see a vehicle from the other until they are actually in the intersection.

The safety issue is, of course, paramount, but I also agree with those who do not want to mar the beauty and historic presence of the watering trough (now garden) at the center of the intersection by placing a stop sign right by it. Why not consider the following:

  1. An additional sign attached to the same pole below the “stop” that says “proceed with caution.” If those were placed on both Trapelo Road and Weston Road stop signs, I should think their presence would slow down impetuous drivers as they enter the intersection. All other drivers can readily see each other.
  2. Alternatively, or in addition, one might have writing on the street pavement (similar to Waltham’s annoying arrows on Main Street!) further into the intersection on Trapelo Road and paralleling the pedestrian walkway guidelines, saying “pause here” or  simply “stop.”

Sincerely,

Barbara Slayter
7 Trapelo Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Help Lincoln boomers build community

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To the editor:

On any given day, a visit to Bemis Hall will find it buzzing with activity and bursting at the seams with people socializing, participating in programs, volunteering, seeking counsel and more. And it’s about to get a lot busier, if a newly formed group of self-described “boomers” has anything to do with it.

In classic Lincoln fashion, the inspiration of one has turned into an ad hoc discussion group of how to introduce more baby boomers to current community offerings, especially those offered by the Council on Aging at Bemis Hall, and how to evolve and enhance existing programs to meet new and growing needs without compromising the valued programs and critical services currently in place. While some boomers have been enjoying COA programming, many are not. And the newly formed group is out to find out why…and to come up with strategies to help more boomers to find their way to Bemis.

At the first gathering of this new group, much discussion focused on “branding” and how that influences perception. Questions were raised as to how to better reach out to communicate the range of community activities that currently exist at Bemis and throughout town. Several saw their interests and needs as variations of the current COA and Parks & Recreation programming. This group of boomers, looking into the future, saw the benefit of a true multigenerational community center that could accommodate the needs of all and reinforce a sense of coming together as a community.

The work of this new group—yet unnamed—will benefit from previous work done by the COA in 2013, where many similar questions were explored, and by the more recent work of the Community Center Study Committee. The energy, enthusiasm, and creative thinking of this group may well take things to the next level and test the limitations of Bemis Hall beyond the challenge posed by existing programs and services. This is not a bad thing—this is a reflection of the natural evolution of a vibrant community growing and changing over time. In fact, this is a cause for celebration—ingenuity and grass-roots initiative is alive and well in Lincoln.

The next gathering of the unnamed boomers ad hoc discussion group is on Tuesday, June 16 at 8:15 a.m. in Bemis Hall. They are spreading the word to encourage others to join them to think of creative ways to introduce community activities for all.

Sincerely,

Sara Mattes
71 Conant Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.