SAUGUS — During a Board of Selectmen meeting, a Boy Scout troop leader brought concerns about traffic during parades to the attention of the selectmen.
John Kane, who leads Boy Scout Troop 62, said that when he was growing up in the Scouts, there were not many traffic issues on any parade routes.
Last year, Kane said that during a parade where the Scouts were in attendance, he noticed a vehicle coming out onto Central Street from Church Street.
“I wanted to know if there’s some way that we could address that, for safety,” Kane said.
Kane said that during the parade, a car had come out from Church Street at a “pretty good clip.” He said the driver had not realized there was a parade because there was a break in it at the time.
“It wasn’t speeding,” Kane said. “But, he came out at a good acceleration heading towards a crowd of people.”
Kane expressed concerns about the safety of young children and veterans on parade routes.
“We have our senior veterans, who may not be able to get out of the way in time if a car did come,” he said.
Kane suggested that having the road “shut down” while the parade is happening could prevent the possibility of vehicular incidents.
“Perhaps you guys could put up some caution tape or police tape going across the side streets along Central (Street), Essex (Street), and Lincoln (Avenue), but we got to do something,” Kane said. “I know it’s going to be inconvenient for people, but… you could send out a notice ahead of time to people, a couple weeks, just so everyone knows, from this time to this time, expect not to get out of your side street.”
“(It would make it easier) and safer for the community, for both young and old,” he added.
Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta deferred Kane’s concerns to Town Manager Scott Crabtree, who was in attendance at the meeting. Crabtree suggested that since Kane already has ideas regarding how to mitigate future issues, he should get in touch directly with the Veterans Council and Police Department to discuss them and get something implemented for next year.
Selectman Corinne Riley said that the night before each parade in town, a meeting is held to discuss its details. Riley said there is always someone from the Police Department present.
“That could help, too, if you could come to that meeting,” she said.
Selectman Michael Serino said that he thinks School Street, Adams Avenue, and Denver Street come out onto Central Street, and that potentially placing a police cruiser at the end of those roads might help to alleviate issues.
“There used to be, years ago. I don’t know if there were any this year, I didn’t notice any,” Serino said. “That might help, too, in the situation of people coming into the parade.”
