Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Stop! In The Name of NIMBY

Only eastbound traffic has a stop sign at Pine/Henry Street intersection

The same folks who cost Amherst taxpayers $32,000 in land court legal fees to protect their "historic" North Amherst neighborhood from a housing development that would have generated $400,000 in annual taxes, now wants to turn their little slice of paradise into a slow go zone for evil automobiles.



A three-way stop, speed bumps, and the closing off of the most northern end of Henry where it intersects with Market Hill Road would definitely scare off traffic.  But both the DPW and Public Works Committee gave the self-serving idea a resounding "NO".

The Select Board has final authority.  They are, however, awaiting a major transportation study report coming out soon from Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates and may use this as a test case for how to handle traffic mitigation requests town wide.

For the time being they accepted the recommendation of the DPW and Public Works Committee.

Let's hope the petitioners don't file suit against the town.  Again.  

 Pine/Henry Street intersection looking east


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this should be titled: "Stop in the Name of Safety." Good luck to these neighbors.

There are a lot of us out there looking for ways to slow traffic down. Cars need to share the road with bikers, walkers, and people who want to stand in their yard to walk across a road to their mailbox. Drivers, slow down!

Janet McGowan

Larry Kelley said...

The military gives away surplus Claymore mines.

Anonymous said...

Larry did you really just suggest/imply resorting to terrorist activities to remedy this? Oh, no, don't delete it. This will surely boost your credibility.

Larry Kelley said...

Just testing the theory that Anons have no sense of humor.

Anonymous said...

Or perhaps that was an anon looking out for you. I hope no one is so stupid as to do something like that now. You did, in effect, spawn the idea.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah, I keep forgetting my own rule: sarcasm requires its own special font.

Anonymous said...

Everything is part of the Amherst collective, everyone's everything is in someone's BY. Everyone gets a say in everything that everyone else does. We do this to increase the cost of everything and keep out the "undesirables" and it is working quite well.

And don't even think of using those landmines without a special permit and time to appeal, that would be immoral.













Rene said...

Larry,

I drive north on Henry Street to Pine Street practically every day and occasionally twice a day.A three way stop at the intersection of Pine and Henry is not a bad idea. I've seen several close calls as people miss (or ignore) the stop sign at the end of Pine street.

It's even worse now with the snow which narrows Pine street greatly as sometimes there are PVPA buses coming up Pine and a person going either North or South on Henry intending to make the turn on to Pine may not see them in time if they just swing into the turn. Just this week, I watch the car infant of me avoid a head on crash only by pulling into the snow bank to void hitting the bus just out of sight.

Not everything is a nimby issue, sometimes it's just common sense.

Larry Kelley said...

That's what the folks on Lincoln Ave said when the tried to block off the intersect with UMass.

Anonymous said...

What do they think they live on Lincoln ave. or Cottage St. Well taken of [speed bumps] !!!! No only way north and forgotten.

Anonymous said...

Some of the suggestions sound a bit extreme, but a 3-way stop might be in order. Traffic along Pine street has increased so much in recent years and that curve is a dangerous stretch of road to pull out on to. That part is not NIMBY, it's safety.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the Cushmanimbys on this one. Lots of peds & cycles through there and people flaunt the 25 mph limit.

It would not be a bad idea to make Pine/E. Pleasant a three-way stop too. Speed limit is supposed to be 25 but people go 40.

Anonymous said...

Drivers: please just do the limit.

Larry Kelley said...

There.

Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

"It would not be a bad idea to make Pine/E. Pleasant a three-way stop too. Speed limit is supposed to be 25 but people go 40."

Great idea!

Argued with delCastilho 20+years ago to do this - he and Noel Ryan declined, saying they first-wanted to knock down the house at the corner so that E. Pleasant and Sand Hill would align….

Asked the Select Board to do it about 10 years ago - got nowhere fast.

Please go ask the SB again now!