One option for the “triangle” around the Longmeadow Big Y, presented by Nick Lapointe and Aaron Keegan of Fuss & O’Neill.
Photo credit: Fuss & O’Neill
LONGMEADOW — About two dozen people attended an information session on possible changes to the intersections along Bliss Road and Williams Street between Redfern Drive and Bliss Court.
Residents who were there in person and online had questions for the Fuss & O’Neill design team that created the plans.
DPW Director Sean Van Deusen explained that the redevelopment of 916 Williams St. made Longmeadow eligible for a MassWorks grant, which funds infrastructure improvements that are tied to economic development. The grant paid for design work by the firm Fuss & O’Neil. Project Director Nicholas Lapointe emphasized that the purpose of the information session was to gather feedback on those designs, not “jam an idea down your throats.”
Project Manager Aaron Keegan said work on the intersections aligns with Longmeadow’s Complete Streets and Long-Range Plan goals to create pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure and institute traffic calming mechanisms.
The proposal has two parts. The first part would update the intersection of Redfern Drive, Frank Smith Road and Williams Street by adding left turn lanes for each direction, complete with turn arrows. The plan calls for updated signal lights and pedestrian ramps and call buttons that meet Massachusetts Department of Transportation standards. Multi-use paths would also be added to create safe zones for pedestrians and cyclists. The plan does not require the town to take any private land, although some trees would be removed. No residents would lose frontage or their tree belts, Lapointe said.
A resident said that she was concerned that the removal of the right turn lane from Williams Street onto Frank Smith Road. would create a backup of traffic. She also took issue with Lapointe’s use of the term “perceived congestion,” noting that whether the congestion is perceived or real, “people are not happy.” A different resident said people often use the right-turn lane to go straight and bypass vehicles turning left, creating dangerous conditions.
Moving on to the triangular group of streets around the Big Y, Keegan and Lapointe offered three options. Option number one is the least intrusive, Keegan said. A roundabout would be added to the intersection of Bliss Road and Williams Street in front of the Big Y gas station. The traffic lanes would be narrowed, and crosswalks would be raised to incentivize drivers to slow down, and a mutli-use path would be added to Bliss Court for pedestrians and cyclists. Keegan pointed out that the roundabout is optional.
Option two is a more extensive redesign, making both Williams Street and Bliss Road one lane. Keegan said this would eliminate “courtesy crashes,” which happen when the driver in the left lane yields to a pedestrian, but blocks the line of sight for the driver in the right lane.
That person cannot see the pedestrian until they are too close to stop in time. Lapointe assured the residents that a single lane would provide enough capacity for the roughly 900 vehicles per hour that pass through the area, according to recent traffic studies. He said the vehicle counts are based on recent traffic studies that considered the new middle school and a half-percent increase in traffic per year.
The existing sidewalks would remain because they are in “good condition.” A shared use path would be added to Bliss Court, providing a safe route for walkers and cyclists. With this option, bike lanes would be raised to sidewalk height, further separating motorized traffic from cyclists.
A half-roundabout would be added to either end of a Bliss Court, which would also be one lane. The exaggerated turns encourage drivers to slow down. The plan includes a yield for vehicles traveling east on Bliss Road and turning onto Bliss Court. The single lane eliminates the existing traffic pattern in which vehicles coming east and west on Bliss Road weave or merge on Bliss Court.
The final option is a hybrid of the previous two. It includes the single traffic lanes, half roundabout and raised bike lanes, but eliminates the roundabout, leaving the V-shaped intersection of Williams Street and Bliss Road as is.
The cost of the Redfern Drive and Williams Street intersection plan is estimated at $1 million and $1.2 million. The roundabout would run between $300,000 and $600,000. Depending on the options selected for the triangle, the cost would be between $1 million and $2.5 million, bringing the entire project total to between $2.3 million and $4.3 million.
Van Deusen spoke about the need for changes to the intersections. Nearly 100 traffic accidents have occurred in the project area over the past five years, Van Deusen said. Resident Bryant Miller commented that he had been in an accident there, but resident Mike Kirby questioned how many crashes were the result of road design. Both Keegan and Van Deusen opined that most are related to traffic flow and road design.
When asked about slowed traffic clogging the intersection, Keegan said the only place where vehicles queue is to turn from Williams Street onto Bliss Road. That intersection is rated as an A, the highest rating, with F being the lowest. In computer modeling of option three, the only one to keep that intersection intact, the intersection remains an A. The newly created yield on Bliss Street would delay traffic by “a couple seconds,” Keegan said.
Kirby asked about commercial trucks making the turn on the half-roundabout, but Keegan explained that the interior of the half-roundabouts were flat brick and can be used by large trucks, while signaling that they are not allowed for passenger vehicles.
One resident dismissed the need for a roundabout, saying raised crosswalks alone will slow down drivers.
Resident Stephen Weiss, who lives near the project area, said he preferred option two. Slowing traffic with a single lane “really appeals to me,” he said.
Select Board member Andrew Lam said the projects are worth considering, but only if there is grant funding available. He asked if cones could be used on Williams Street and Bliss Road to simulate single lane conditions and ensure there are no “unintended consequences.”
While Lapointe said it is possible, there would need to be temporary road striping, so drivers are not confused. Van Deusen said the lines would remain after the trial period, potentially complicating a return to existing traffic patterns after the trial.
“Whatever happens,” Van Deusen said, “there will be improvements.”
Once the Select Board chooses an option to pursue, the Fuss & O’Neill team will continue its design work, finishing in April 2026. The town would then apply for a MassWorks construction grant.
