Saugus to make street one-way off of Fellsway

SAUGUS – Commuters used to cutting across Jaffrey Street to avoid traffic on the Lynn Fells Parkway are going to have to change their driving habits.Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday to make Jaffrey a one-way going from Howard Street toward the parkway and to post a “Do Not Enter” sign at the east end of the roadway.Jaffrey is, by all accounts, a short, narrow street. Traffic Officer Lt. Stephen Sweezey said drivers often use it as a shortcut to Howard Street and a way to beat a streetlight.Loretta Cannistraci, who lives at 98 Lynn Fells Parkway, said she agreed the street needed to be one way but questioned whether it shouldn’t go in the other direction.Cannistraci said with the one way going in the easterly direction cars would have to come down a large hill. She said it could be dangerous in the winter and it might be better to force the cars up the hill rather than down.A Jaffrey Street family disagreed. The homeowner said she is unable to see cars coming over the hill until they are at the top of the hill and by then it could be too late for any children playing in the area.Selectman Stephen Castinetti said he didn’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but he believed the one-way designation should be to the east. He said the Lynn Fells is more prone to traffic congestion than Howard Street therefore more cars would try and circumvent the trouble by cutting across Jaffrey Street than the other way around.Cannistraci said ideally she’d like to see the road closed to everyone but residents but she knew that wouldn’t happen.Selectman Michael Kelleher said he drives that way often since he lives in the area and thought Sweezey’s suggestion of the eastbound one way was a viable plan.Sweezey said it would take about 14 days to change the street signs giving drivers roughly two weeks more to take advantage of the shortcut.