MA - Town trying to slow vehicles on Prospect St.

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/l...rticleid=77476

NORWOOD -- Spurred by neighbors complaints, officials will be taking a slew of measures to slow down traffic along the Prospect Street corridor from Florence Avenue to the entrance to the James Savage Education Center.
General Manager John Carroll said yesterday he hopes within the next week to erect new safety signs in a variety of spots along the winding road. "They are already on order and should be in by the end of the week," said Carroll.
This comes after neighbors have repeatedly complained about the roadway, which has been the site of several serious accidents in the past few years.


Prospect Street resident David LaRonde said the light pole in front of his house has been taken out so many times the Light Department should leave a pole in his garage to save them the trouble of driving back downtown to pick up a new one after each accident.
"I know the pole in front of my house has been snapped in half at least three times in the past two or three years," said LaRonde, who said one of the main problems is that drivers go too fast around a sharp curve at the intersection of Prospect and Vernon streets and lose control.
LaRonde said other neighbors have had cars end up through their bushes and on their yards.
Prospect Street resident John Goonan said he's been out at the scene of accidents at that site several times to the point where he holds his breath every time he hears tires screeching.
"You hear the tires screech and you wait wondering, 'Is there going to be a big bang this time?'" said Goonan.
Last year, Safety Officer Rich Giacoppo made recommendations for more signs along the road to slow drivers down, but they were never erected, possibly because there were disagreements over putting a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Prospect and Vernon streets.
"I can't really give you a good answer why it wasn't done, but it will be," said Carroll.
But LaRonde told selectmen Tuesday the neighbors recognized that a four-way stop sign was not the solution.
"I'm not sure why we got hung up on the four-way stop thing, we just mentioned it as a possible solution, but we don't really feel it's the answer to the problem," said LaRonde.
Selectman Bill Plasko believes the problems may not be something simple signs can fix. "I think the biggest problem is the bends in the road -- and there's not much we can do about that without land-taking and things of that nature," said Plasko.
Selectmen also agreed to ask the Police Department to put the mobile radar unit along Prospect Street to help better educate drivers.