What Makes The Flagpole Dangerous

To the Editor:

Everybody knows that Main Street in the vicinity of the flagpole is a hazardous place, but I think few people are aware of just what makes it this dangerous. The main factor is the area of pavement in front of the Community House which appears to be a traffic lane but is actually part of the road shoulder. It is separated from the traffic lane by a solid line which is illegal to cross.

Those who have to exit the West Street/Castle Hill area and enter or cross Main Street have all had the kamikaze experience at all times of the day. This occurs when a southbound car on Main Street slows or stops to turn left onto Church Hill, and all the cars behind it swing out at highway speed, cross the solid line illegally, and pass the car on the right illegally. You are faced with a car racing straight at you that suddenly swerves (hopefully) back into the traffic lane at the same high speed. You just hope that when they yank the steering wheel back, they are not on sand or ice.

What prompts this letter is an incident that happed Friday night in the rush hour. I was stopped at the Church Hill stop sign, waiting to cross Main Street onto West Street. A courteous southbound driver who was going to turn left onto Church Hill stopped short of the flagpole so that I could cross. (This occurs quite often). As I proceeded across, I saw a car swing out onto the shoulder and pass the other cars on the right. When I blew my horn, the lady stopped in front of me and, I assume, repeatedly pointed at the stop sign behind me…I was well aware of it, having sat there until the courteous driver let me go. This lady was obviously oblivious to the fact that she had gotten there by violating two traffic laws while driving at a speed unsafe for conditions.

When the town does a study of traffic flows, I would recommend they suggest the state paint bold cross-hatching on the shoulder area in front of the Meeting House so that it does not appear to be a traffic lane, and might slow people down. If you read the police reports each week in The Bee, you will see that in almost all accidents at the flagpole, the responsible driver is ticketed for crossing a solid line and/or passing on the right. Some people might call it sacrilege, but a traffic light would help. It should be noted that the flagpole is not the problem. The layout of the intersection is. The flagpole actually makes it safer because it requires people to slow down and make a legal 90-degree turn rather than racing at a 45-degree angle to beat opposing traffic.

Yours truly,

Howard F. Bowles, Jr

2 Old Castle Drive, Newtown                                 January 23, 2006