Town Meeting: Cushing and Main Street Intersection Will Remain Without Lights

After a heated discussion  at last night’s Town Meeting, Hingham town residents voted against a decision to install traffic lights at the intersection of Cushing, South Pleasant Street and Main Street.

The vote was so close, that residents were asked to stand so that town tellers could count them.

 The resulting vote was 145-126 in favor of not installing a traffic light at the  intersection where Cushing and South Pleasant meet Main Street.

  After many residents gave their opinion on the issue,  no one spoke more strongly in favor of installing a light than Brewster Street resident Paul O’Donnell  who was injured in a car crash at the intersection in 1979 . 

“This hits home for me,” said O’Donnell.  “Something needs to be done…it’s appalling if it doesn’t happen.”

 O’Donnell stood before the town residents in the same High School gymnasium that he was unable to play in as a youth due to injuries from the accident. He admitted to the town that he still shakes in his shoes when he thinks of the day he was hit.

“I don’t want to see another kid get hurt there,” he said.

Paul Healey, chairman of planning board and a board representative to the traffic committee explained to the town that the issue had been studied by engineering experts.

The Norwell-based Engineering Firm, Coler & Colantonio was paid $10,000  by the committee to study the intersection. Research was also conducted by the town’s police and fire department, the highway department and the traffic committee and planning board.

According to Healey, the cost to install traffic lights or a roundabout would cost the town anywhere from $370,000 to $460,000 .

Healey stated that the crash history of incident does not indicate a safety problem would exist and that everyone on traffic committee agreed with the facts. There have been 21 accidents that occurred at the intersection in the last five to six years, and only two of the 56 people involved reported personal injury.

 Healey explained that the traffic in the area is not growing and the wait time at the intersection would remain almost the same with a light.

‘What we found was the traffic volume on Main Street  has not risen appreciably ,” Healey said.

 While one Main Street resident did not agree with the traffic committee's facts, others believed that cost and statistics should not prevent the town from installing lights.  Several town residents referred to the intersection as the “most dangerous” in town.

“Its really that simple- traffic lights help control traffic and prevent accidents from happening,” said Linden Ponds resident Bernie Peavey. “It seems to me there should be no question about it, we need that traffic light.”

 According to Selectman John Riley, a light would not be installed even if the allocation had passed. Riley said state transportation officials are likely to reject any construction plans because the state recently completed a $7 million reconstruction of Main Street.  If the allocation had passed, Riley said it would take at least seven years for changes to be made.