Town Meeting Approves Neponset Street Traffic Lights and Additional Municipal Appropriations-September 25, 1984

During a session last night, Town Meeting voted by voice vote to advance $75,000 to install new traffic lights at the Wedgewood Drive intersection on heavily traveled Neponset Street, with the funds ultimately to be reimbursed by the state.

‘Band-Aid’ Solution for Neponset Street Traffic

The signals are intended to break up traffic flow and allow side street residents to safely enter the busy roadway near the Route I-95 interchange. However, officials and members readily acknowledged the move was far from a comprehensive fix:

• Town Manager John J. Carroll: Noted that while a true long-term solution would involve constructing a ramp road from the interchange through the Park Place industrial park to Route 1, that option would take years and substantial funding.
• Selectmen Chairman Walter J. Dempsey: Bluntly assessed the project, stating, “This is a lousy solution but the best we have.”
• Town Meeting Member Edward F. McKenna: Described the signals as an expedient choice that would aid his morning commute from Deerfield Road, though he warned it could increase the likelihood of rear-end collisions.
• Allan D. Howard (Finance Commission): Criticized the measure as “another band-aid solution to a serious problem,” questioning how the town could justify lights at Wedgewood Drive while ignoring ten other intersecting streets between Pendergast Circle and Route I-95.
• Thomas DiFrancia (Norton Drive Resident): Echoed those concerns, remarking, “It’s only a band-aid solution for those who don’t live up there.”

Additional Town Meeting Appropriations

Drawn from surplus revenue, Town Meeting also approved several other municipal funding measures:

• $13,500 to purchase a new vehicle for the fire chief.
• $2,500 to rehabilitate a used police cruiser to serve as a fire department inspection vehicle.
• $14,476 to cover miscellaneous unpaid bills from the fiscal year ending June 30, encompassing police medical bills and Chapter 766 special education program costs.
• $1,800 for a land acquisition and appraisal of 75 square feet at Washington Street and Railroad Avenue to widen maneuvering space for sidewalk plows around new traffic signals.
• $12,000 for extra work to finalize renovations on the new civic recreation center (formerly the Norwood Armory), funded via a balance from the Eliot Field rebuilding account in South Norwood.

Additionally, members agreed to trim a three-foot-wide strip of the newly laid concrete sidewalk on Nahatan Street beside Carla’s restaurant and the civic center to preserve on-street parking during future street reconstruction. Town Manager Carroll noted that while he had initially advised laying temporary hot-top asphalt rather than concrete given the impending road work, the armory renovation committee’s preference for concrete was reasonable at the time.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger