Traffic woes snarl Wyoma residents

LYNN – All Jane Cardarelli has to do is look at the window of her business in Wyoma Square to see the traffic congestion city residents are dealing with.?It?s just amazing how many people come and go through the square,” Cardarelli, the owner of Broadway Barbers said Friday. “It?s so busy, there?s never a break. There?s traffic 24/7 here.”But traffic generally moves steadily if slowly through the square, but the slighest problem – whether it?s utility work, a minor snowstorm or even a stalled car _ can back traffic all the way up past Union Hospital and to the rotary.?I have to tell you it moves all the time unless you have anything, like any sort of wire work, a little snow or fog and it just backs up. It?s horrible when they do that,” Cardarelli said. “I come from Middleton and it took me 30 minutes to get from my shop to the rotary because there were doing a little wire work.”James Marsh, Development Director for the city of Lynn, understands what traffic congestion can do to a city?s business climate and is seeking federal money to pay for a major traffic study that could ultimately – years down the road – lead to a major traffic project aimed at making it easier to get in and out of the city.?From an economic development standpoint, it hurts us in what we?re able to attract here,” Marsh said. “The town of Saugus, and I stress the word town, has Lowe?s, Home Depot, the mall, they?ve been able to reap the benefits of being located next to a major highway. As compared to us, we?ve always struggled with it and struggled with it for quite some time.”That?s why Marsh is looking for federal money to do a “full-blown transportation study.”?We?re actively looking for study money. We?ve been talking to (U.S. Sen. John) Kerry?s office and (U.S. Sen. Scot) Brown?s office, but it?s a long-term project.”He lives in Lynn and understands how difficult it can be to travel through the city.If you?re coming through Swampscott to go to Goodwin Circle you have to figure it?s going to take you 30 minutes,” Marsh said.Police Sgt. Edward Shinnick, who is in charge of traffic enforcement for the city, said the normal traffic congestion in the city has been exacerbated by the frequent winter snowstorms that have hit the region.?It?s bad, the problem is just with the amount of snow we have,” Shinnick said. “The streets have been narrowed and if you park one car on one side of the road, it?s hard for someone else to get by.”He said police have been receiving numerous complaints about traffic congestion around city schools, particularly around drop-off and pick-up times.He described the traffic congestion then as “utter chaos,” because the huge piles of snow have made an already bad problem worse.?You have school buses and all the parents picking up their kids,” he said. “And it seems most parents don?t want their kids to walk too far to the cars and they try to park as close as possible.”Shinnick urged parents to “just have a little patience and try to be courteous,” no matter how frustrated they get, and stressed that the congestion typically clears up after about 15 minutes.He said areas of the city that consistently have traffic problems are Wyoma Square, McGrane Square, “all of Western Ave.,” but particularly on Western Avenue near the Stop and Shop and Boston Street.A big part of the problem with traffic congestion in Lynn and other older cities is there is the heavy volume of traffic on roads that simply weren?t built to handle the load.?The older cities don?t have anywhere to widen the roads,” Shinnick said. “Some of these roads were built for horse and buggies.”Plus, the amount of cars on the road has increased dramatically as our society has changed, he said.?Years ago, most families had one car, now the average family has at least two if not three cars,” he said.Police are working with Department of Public Works employees to try to clear away as much snow as they can.Shinnick believes traffic will improve when spring comes and the snow mel