At October’s session of Town Meeting, residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of measures designed to lower speed limits across town. And during the extensive debate on the articles, people were warned that it would take time to achieve slower speeds, given the state regulations governing traffic flow.
One of those remedies, which empowers the Select Board to drop the speed to 25 mph for any “thickly settled” area, was expected to be tricky to enact, mostly because of the expense and specialized software involved. State regulations demand a GIS analysis to verify the “thickly settled” claim, which requires sophisticated, technically challenging software.
Tuesday night, Still River Road resident and Open Space Committee Chair Peter Dorward came to the town’s rescue. Using his own expertise with GIS software and data, he was able to scan neighborhoods throughout town to locate areas that would meet the state’s “thickly settled” criteria. And he took the extra step of consulting with engineers at the Department of Transportation to make sure he got it right.
Thanks to one dedicated volunteer, the town can begin to take control of its roads, a goal that has eluded it for years. Well done and thank you, Peter.
