City officials will ask the state Department of Transportation for help regulating traffic entering and exiting Broadway near the Interstate 495 exit ramps.
The problem, city councilors agree, is the lack of identifiable travel lanes on Monument Street where it meets Broadway, and on Broadway where motorists turn onto Carleton Street.
City Councilor Joseph J.Bevilacqua pointed out that drivers have the option to go in any of three directions when leaving Monument Street at Broadway: left toward Carleton Street, straight across onto the I-495 onramp, and right onto Broadway toward Methuen and Salem, N.H.
However, the pattern is for two lines of traffic to wait at the light, Bevilacqua said.
“What I want to know is, is there enough width to create three travel lanes,” Bevilacqua asked. “And if not, could we recommend that one lane have double arrows,” to indicate which lane cars planning to go straight across should use?
Last month, members of the city’s Traffic and Safety Committee asked city engineer John Pettis to seek advice from the state transportation department about creating two distinct lanes on Broadway to control traffic turning onto Carleton Street.
Councilors decided to ask Pettis to add the inquiry about the three-lane solution on Monument Street to his letter to the DOT.
The other issue is the back up of vehicles on the ramp spill onto the highway which is extremely dangerous. They should create a wider off ramp area to alleviate the issue.
There are two big issues in the area. The first is vehicles turning south onto Broadway at exit 50 do not stop for the stop sign at the top of the ramp, making it extremely difficult for vehicles turning on to Broadway from Carleton st and has caused many many serious accidents. The other area is at the intersection of North Broadway and Monument Street. There is a four way stop at that intersection; however vehicles turning right onto monument street from North Broadway to head towards 495 for the most part do not stop . I recently walked to that intersection to observe the traffic flow and counted 32 vehicle coming down North Broadway. Of the 32 only 6 came to a complete stop. The remaining 26 either rolled through the intersection or simply drove through the intersection without slowing at all. The majority of those vehicles are registered in New Hampshire.
They need to do something it’s very difficult to get on to Broadway from Carlton Ave. Have seen a few accidents there. People coming off ramp do not stop at all to let cars exit from Carlton Ave.