Ballard St. residents upset over Saugus bridge detour traffic

SAUGUS – Ballard Street residents and others impacted by the Belden Bly Bridge closure will have their chance to sound off during a meeting with state officials Wednesday and that is good news to some residents.Patricia Melanson said traffic along Ballard Street has been a nightmare since the bridge project began on Dec. 15.”We can’t even get out of our driveway,” she said. “One night it was six hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic. You can’t get into your driveway, you can’t get out of your driveway.”Melanson was unaware of the meeting but said she would give some serious thought to going. The meeting includes a representative from the Massachusetts Highway Department, who will sit down with locals Jan. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Italian American Club on Beachview Avenue.Joan Beaton of 84 Ballard Street said she planned to attend the meeting. She said the morning traffic isn’t too bad but the evening commute is brutal.”I don’t know how all these people get to work in the morning but by 3 or 3:30 p.m. it’s awful,” she said.Beaton said most evenings the traffic runs bumper to bumper, often as late at 10 p.m. However, she added that some nights, for no apparent reason, the traffic is fine. She did say it was bad enough that a couple of nights she and her husband opted to stay home rather than to venture out into the traffic.”People are courteous, they let you out but then you still have to sit in it,” she said. “It moves along because there’s a light, but it still takes time.”While the traffic is no fun for residents, Beaton said she also feels for the commuters.”I feel bad for the people coming home from Boston,” she said. “They’ve put in a full day of work then to have to sit through this every night. It’s awful.”The traffic-flow issues are expected to last until May when the work on the bridge is slated to end and the Belden Bly Bridge would be open to traffic again.Selectman Michael Kelleher, along with other town officials, have facilitated the meeting, which was initially planned for today. Kelleher said it was moved because it is his understanding that the highway department was working on a traffic study that it will present Wednesday.Kelleher is also concerned about a bus stop that was moved without approval or even discussion with the Board of Selectmen. Kelleher called the stop’s location unacceptable and illogical.Residents also felt the stop didn’t make sense since it is located near the end of the street, instead of in a more central location.Beaton said the stop is actually located on her property line and she was a little surprised to find it there one morning with no notice.”I think it’s actually going to be moved,” she added.While the bulk of the traffic issues have focused on Ballard Street, Kelleher said the meeting is for anyone impacted by the bridge closure, including all of Lincoln Avenue. Lincoln Avenue denizens have suffered at both ends with traffic pouring off Ballard Street at the Winter Street/Boston Street/Lincoln Ave. intersection and with increased traffic in Cliftondale Square as commuters try and scoot around Route 107 altogether.”This is not a Board of Selectmen meeting,” Kelleher added. “This is just a community meeting. There are people that live in these neighborhoods that have some good ideas. I don’t live there, I’m just trying to help.”