During a quick meeting just before the October 23 Fall Special Town Meeting, the Rochester Board of Selectmen decided to put the brakes on voting to approve ten new stop signs and two yield signs that were recommended after a study that was part of a state-funded safety improvement project for High Street.
State grant money was awarded to the Town of Rochester to fund some safety enhancements on High Street, a roadway the state determined had a higher rate of vehicular accidents.
Selectman Naida Parker requested holding off on the vote until Police Chief Paul Magee could be consulted again. Magee had already signed off on the list with no objections, but Parker said that she had further questions.
What did not make sense, Parker said, was adding a number of new stop signs to shorter side streets that intersect with High Street, yet only request yield signs for two more dangerous intersections – High Street at Walnut Plain Road, and High Street at County Road.
“Why at a dangerous intersection wouldn’t you put a stop sign?” Parker asked. She added, “People come down High Street and go straight through Walnut Plain without yielding because they think it’s that road that goes on continuously.”
The ten requested stop signs for High Street were requested at the ends of Old Tuck Bog Road, Look’s Mill Lane, Ryder Road, Mayflower Lane, Stevens Road, Porter Road, Bryant Lane, Hillside Road, another for Bryant Lane, and Forbes Road.
Also during the meeting, Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar said the renovations at the Town Hall Annex were over and business has resumed at the site effective that day, Monday, October 23.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for October 30 at 6:30 pm in the Rochester Town Hall meeting room.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry