Transportation Planning
Route 2 West Safety Study
Lack of a climbing lane up Greenfield Mountain creates safety concerns along Route 2 West.
Project Overview
The purpose of the Route 2 West Safety Study is to undertake a detailed review of potential safety issues along the 22 mile Route 2 corridor from and including the Greenfield Rotary west to the Charlemont/Savoy Town Line. Over the past several years, the FRCOG has been involved in a number of studies that have included all or a portion of the Route 2 corridor west of Interstate 91. During these studies a number of locations along the corridor were raised by those participating as potentially hazardous, primarily based on perception or anecdotal evidence. Attempts were made to substantiate these concerns by using Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) data, but unfortunately this data did not provide the level of detail in both location descriptions and the circumstances of the crashes to confirm or dispel the concerns raised at the majority of these locations. Due to funding constraints at the time, completing a comprehensive assessment of the locations in question was not possible. With an increased emphasis on safety planning being promoted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the FRCOG has been able to dedicate transportation planning funds toward conducting this comprehensive safety assessment of the whole corridor.
Current Activities
A detailed crash analysis has been completed for the whole corridor, plus traffic data collection to support investigation of identified safety deficiencies has been completed. A lot of the effort thus far has focused on developing a plan to improve the Greenfield Rotary. In cooperation with MassHighway District 2 and consultation with the New York State Department of Transportation, a plan to improve the Rotary has been developed. This plan includes some minor widening of the Route 2 and 2A approaches to accommodate two lanes entering from both these approaches. Extensive pavement markings on all the approaches and the circulating roadway, along with accompanying signage is planned to assign lane use and slow and smooth traffic flow through the Rotary. It is anticipated that these improvements could be implemented during the summer of 2006.
Future Plans
Solutions to other identified safety deficiencies are currently being investigated. It is anticipated that the study will be completed by the Spring of 2006. A series of Public Presentations are planned to present the results of the study during that time.