Saugus residents look to fix traffic light troubles

SAUGUS – Melrose and Saugus residents packed the Town Hall auditorium during the recent Board of Selectmen meeting, united against a traffic light problem that?s been plaguing both towns.Rick Ennis of Melrose took the podium first to bring the board?s attention to two intersections with the same traffic light problem on Main Street, one at the corner of Lynn Fells Parkway and the other at the corner of Howard Street.Ennis said the lack of turning arrows was creating an unsafe situation at both intersections. The problem, said Ennis, was that drivers making a so-called “protected left turn” will fight cars coming toward them from the opposite direction “with no warning.”?You?re lulled into a false sense of security, thinking you can turn because the cars are clearly stopped, but you don?t know when it will change,” Ennis read from his letter to the board. “It feels incredibly unsafe.”Board members reported that because the road falls under the Department of Conservation and Recreation jurisdiction, they would have to work with the department to change the traffic lights. Chairman Ellen Faiella reported that the DCR sent a letter to the board to set up a site visit with Town Manager Scott Crabtree.A Sheffield Heights resident recalled residents making a complaint about the traffic lights in the past, to no avail. “The state said it was the town?s problem, and the town said it was a state problem,” he said, adding that between the two lights it seemed to “take 10 minutes to go just over a mile.”?We?ll do our very best to speed it along,” said Selectman Maureen Dever.Members of the board agreed that the traffic light was a problem. Faiella admitted that “Howard and Main Street is really confusing,” and Selectman Steve Castinetti said, “That whole area is a mess. It?s an accident waiting to happen. Something needs to be done, and it?s well overdue.”Faiella reported Monday that she had not yet heard from Crabtree about a site visit.