The road less trafficked
Published on July 28th, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - Heeding the request of police officials, the town’s Board of Selectmen unanimously rescinded a 24-hour town wide parking ban last night.
Calling off the planned weeklong ban after only its second day, the change came when traffic gridlocks expected from DNC-related road closures of I-93 never materialized.
But despite the fact that Stoneham’s Town Square and major intersections had the feel of a Midwestern ghost town — absent the lonely presence of wandering tumbleweed — those who prepared for the ban stand behind their decision.
“I’m thrilled that we don’t have the traffic issues we were going to have,” said Chamber of Commerce member Sharon Iovanni, who worked with safety officials on behalf of the business community.
“I think we did a good thing and the decision that was made by the emergency management team was based on sound advice,” Iovanni added.
According to Police Chief Gregory O’Keefe, all predictions made by state engineers and traffic experts concluded that without a 50 percent reduction of I-93’s seasonal traffic patterns, the highway would be backed up for miles, forcing bumper-to-bumper traffic into local cities and towns.
“From what I’ve seen, I don’t think there’s been a lot of traffic even in Boston. So a lot of people did stay at home,” O’Keefe commented. “I’d be willing to bet that we reduced 70 percent of the traffic, because we had none.”
While Monday morning and afternoon traffic seemed to indicate that the prophesied traffic snafus were not to be, the town’s safety officials, wary that citizens might have taken a long-weekend vacation, decided to hold off until Tuesday morning before lifting the parking ban.
But according to Stoneham Fire Captain SCOTT Webber, that doesn’t mean Monday was without incident.
Webber, who represented Stoneham in Wilmington’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), recalled that safety authorities did have to deal with two somewhat frightening incidents, including the theft of a truck filled with propane tanks from Winchester and a shipment of an explosive material received in Reading.
With both situations were solved without incident, Webber praised the clear line of communications and cooperation of state, local, and federal safety officials.
“The goal of the Emergency Operations Center was to share information and that was done quite well. The planning of the 17-communities involved was awesome. There were a lot of badges around and everybody worked well with each other,” remarked Webber, who returned to Stoneham from the EOC after the fire department downsized its operational plan yesterday morning.
Webber also believes that despite the lack of traffic, the regional planning for the DNC undertaken by surrounding cities and towns acted as an excellent training exercise for a real emergency situation.
“It was an excellent training exercise,” said Webber. “They’re going to wait two weeks [after the convention] and then do an assessment for lessons learned from this.”
Although enthused by the non-existent traffic, Iovanni still worried about the impacts of the DNC on local businesses. With all evidence pointing to a mass exodus from Massachusetts in advance of the convention, Iovanni hopes the lifting of the parking ban will allow remaining residents easier access to local shops and stores.
“I am concerned about the business community,” Iovanni worried. “I haven’t heard anybody crying about it, but I do have to believe that some of our businesses have been hurt. I’m not sure if lifting the parking ban is going to help, but at least it does make it easier for people in town.”
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