Ravine/Phillips Road eyed as a dead-end
Published on August 20th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen plan to restrict or even block rush-hour traffic flow along Ravine Road and Phillips Road, two busy roadways located in the heart of the Fells Reservation.
During their most recent meeting, the Selectmen promised traffic-frustrated residents that some measure will be implemented in the coming months to calm the flow of cars during the morning and evening commutes.
Presently, the Selectmen appear to be considering two major changes to the two roadways, endorsed by Stoneham Police Chief Richard Bongiorno and Safety Officer Laurence Rotondi, which would entail making the streets either dead-ends or open to one-way traffic only.
“Frankly, when Officer Rotondi recommended a dead-end on Ravine Road, that wasn't really an idea I [bought into],” said Bongiorno, who later admitted that after seeing the problem first hand, the change to a dead-end appealed to him.
“Although Phillips Road doesn't have the [same] traffic , it will become a problem [if you make a dead-end on Ravine],” Rotondi explained. “Whatever you do for Ravine Road, you will have to do for Phillips Road.”
Ravine and Phillips Road, sandwiched between Woodland Road near Spot Pond in Stoneham and the Fellsway East on the opposite side, regularly draw hundreds of commuters primarily seeking to cut around the traffic light in front of J.J. Grimsby's.
The bulk of those vehicles, according to Stoneham Police Chief Richard Bongiorno and Safety Officer Laurence Rotondi, come from neighboring Melrose, which owns the end portion of Ravine Road.
By contrast, the narrower and less frequented Phillips Road is located entirely within Stoneham's borders.
However, before instituting any concrete plan, the Selectmen agreed that Melrose officials needed to be consulted as both a courtesy and because the city's residents were largely responsible for the traffic woes in the area.
Town Adminstrator David Ragucci will now contact Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan, as well as officials from the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), to see if a common solution can be identified.
“Dave, just tell them point blank: we're going to do something, we'd like to do it with your cooperation. Otherwise, we'll do it without you,” said DePinto.
A convenient cut-through
According to Rotondi, who recently conducted a traffic survey along Ravine Road, an average of 200 cars per hour frequent Ravine Road during the morning rush hour.
With well over 2,000 daily trips along the roadway in any given day, the safety officer also pointed-out that based on his figures, not only does the majority of traffic stream out of Melrose during the morning, that influx reverses directions and gets worse during the afternoon and evening rush hours.
The police officer further contended that the traffic counts weren't an anomaly, as they matched historical figures dating back to 2001.
According to Rotondi, Ravine Road captured nearly five times more traffic than Phillips Road, primarily because it connects directly to West Wyoming and has a wider layout than the parallel street.
That geographic location, the safety officer and Bongiorno insisted, made Ravine Road a desirable cut-through spot for impatient motorists who didn't want to wait for the traffic light at the intersection of West Wyoming, Fellsway East, and Pond Street.
Although Phillips Road also connects directly to West Wyoming Avenue, Bongiorno and Rotondi characterized that cut-through as less desirable due to its narrow width.
“Speed really isn't a problem down there. The real problem is the amount of traffic those two streets handle,” Rotondi opined. “When Ravine Road was put in during the 1930's, it wasn't meant to handle this much traffic.”
“This morning I physically did a count on Ravine Road [for a half-hour]. There were 80 vehicles that came from Melrose through Stoneham,” said Bongiorno. “Only 17 were going in the opposite direction.”
A handful of frustrated residents implored the Selectmen to implement a temporary roadblock on Ravine Road or Phillips Road, in order to see whether it had a drastic negative impact on the morning commute.
However, due to a number of safety concerns, such as whether a fire truck could turn around if the streets were blocked-off, the Selectmen opted to wait until a joint meeting with DCR and Melrose could be scheduled.
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