NORTHAMPTON — In an effort to control traffic flow and increase safety, the Northampton DPW is asking the City Council to improve an order that would turn the Hatfield Street to Cooke Avenue intersection into an all-way stop-controlled intersection.
According to DPW Director Donna LaScaleia, the city hired engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill to complete a stop sign safety study last fall, which included information gathering around traffic counts and accident data to see what a feasible safety measure for the intersection would be.
LaScaleia said during the City Council’s July 11 regular meeting that the city used this safety study to find an alternative solution to increase traffic and pedestrian safety in light of the fact that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation canceled a proposed roundabout project at North King Street and Hatfield Street three years ago.
The roundabout project was terminated by MassDOT in 2021 after an overwhelming majority of comments raised at a public hearing shunned the project due to its impacts to a nearby archaeological site in the area.
“What we are looking at is a solution with the understanding that the state is going to be looking at that entire corridor and potentially resurrecting the roundabout project and looking at that entire area to reconstruct at a later date,” LaScaleia said during the council meeting. “So, we wanted to try to come up with a solution that would be satisfactory in the meantime to try to control traffic flow and just increase safety for folks trying to make turning movements at that intersection.”
Currently, Cooke Avenue has stop signs in the north and south directions of travel at the intersection with Hatfield Street, but if the council were to accept the order presented by DPW, then the intersection of Hatfield Street and Cooke Avenue will be converted to a all-way stop controlled intersection for a trial period of 120 days.
LaScaleia told the council that an order asking for a trial period is “unusual,” but in this case, necessary based on Fuss & O’Neill’s analysis.
“Fuss & O’Neill’s analysis discerned there is a 10-to-1 traffic ratio, where, for every 10 cars that are traveling on Hatfield Street, there is one car trying to make a turning movement off of Cook Avenue from either direction,” LaScaleia said, explaining the reasoning for the trial run. “So, with a 10-to-1 ratio, there could potentially be undesirable queuing on Hatfield Street, and it’s unclear what the impact of the stop sign is going to be until we actually plant it and then analyze what’s happening in our cars being pushed elsewhere.”
LaScaleia added that a signal may be needed if the all-way stop is not working as designed, but, if the all-way stop mitigates the safety issues at the intersection, then the DPW would return to the council to ask for a permanent ordinance following the 120-day trial run.
“We’re looking to implement [the trial run] once school is back in session,” LaScaleia said.
A couple of councilors expressed support for the proposed trial run during the July 11 meeting. City Councilor Stan Moulton said that the Hatfield Street and Cooke Avenue intersection continues to be one of the most concerning intersections in Ward 1, which is the ward he represents.
He said residents in his ward have discussed that intersection since as far back as the 1990s.
“I appreciate the traffic study there … I appreciate Director LaScaleia’s attention to this,” Moulton shared. “She and I have had several conversations, and I think this is a good solution.”
Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne LaBarge also recognized the concerns of the area and said she is glad something is being done about it.
“I’m happy that something is being looked at a temporary basis first before a decision is made,” LaBarge said. “But I hope the right decision will be made for the safety of all people within that area.”
LaScaleia told the council that her staff will do the best they can to make the area “pop as best [they] can” so drivers and pedestrians are aware that the intersection will be converted to an all-way stop.
The council did not refer the order to any committee which means they will officially vote on the order at a future August meeting.
