PEABODY — City officials expressed their support for keeping “no left turn” signs for cars coming out of Mount Pleasant Drive toward Route 114, despite several complaints about the signs, at a Municipal Safety Committee meeting.
Ward 5 City Councilor Dave Gamache said that unbeknownst to the councilors, the signs were placed there by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation during a reconstruction project at Route 114. There had been no sign there for many years, despite the city passing a “no left turn” ordinance in the area back in the 1980s.
“Neighbors were quite upset that the traffic couldn’t take a left,” Gamache said.
He acknowledged that the problem “seems to have abated itself,” as more people are taking the right turn on Route 114.
“The complaints have subsided a bit,” Gamache said.
Gamache motioned for Police Capt. Scott Richards to provide accident data to show residents the reason for the signs. Richards said that based on an Registry of Motor Vehicles database that includes self-reported data and data from the state and the Peabody Police Department, he found that there have been seven crashes in the location during the last five years.
“It doesn’t seem like a huge number, but every single crash was almost identical and it was a car coming out of Mount Pleasant making a left and either hitting a car coming eastbound from Route 114, or getting hit by a car coming eastbound from Route 114,” Richards said.
Richards recommended leaving the ordinance and signs up, saying it could be a big problem for the city if the signs are taken down while there is a major safety issue and an accident causing serious injury or death occurs.
“I’m pleased to hear that recommendation,” Ward 4 Councilor Julie Daigle said. “Crossing 114 into three lanes can be dangerous.”
Councilor-at-Large Tom Gould asked Richards if there are any plans to put a traffic light in the area, but Richards said that there is not enough traffic flow there to ask the state Department of Transportation to spend money on a traffic light.
Gamache said that residents have every reason to think that the signs were just put up overnight, but hopes that anyone who lives in the area understands that it is primarily a safety issue.
