Selectmen Decline to Put in New Stop Sign

Despite a recommendation from the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee, the Weston Board of Selectmen decided Tuesday to not install a stop sign on Boston Post Road in the town center.

The proposed stop sign would have been placed on Boston Post Road by School Street, heading westbound.

Traffic and Sidewalk Committee Chairman Clint Schuckel said the committee had voted 3 to 1 in favor of the stop sign, and said that his was the dissenting vote.

"The feeling was, that the stopping westbound traffic on Boston Post Road would make things safer, would facilitate both pedestrian crossings and cars turning off of School Street," he said.

But Schuckel said that he was concerned that drivers, upon seeing a stop sign at Church Street and on School Street, would think the intersection was a four-way stop, when it is not.

"Turning it into a four-way stop has its own problems, too, given how wide the intersection is," he said.

Schuckel also quoted an email he had received from Police Chief Steven Shaw about the proposed stop sign.

"It would probably make things safer for an hour or so in the morning, and then become useless to the point where everyone would run it. It's not like a set of traffic lights—you can't put a stop sign on 'flash' on the off hours," he read from Shaw's email.

Data from the last five years indicates that there have only been two accidents from that traffic pattern in the years 2005 to 2010, said Schuckel.

"I'm frankly hesitant to put a stop sign on Boston Post Road," said Selectman Chairman Doug Gillespie. "I appreciate all the work but I just don't see it curing [anything]."

"I'm sorry to go against the recommendation, but I don't see enough data to suggest that this is a big enough problem that this is justified in the first place, and I'm not convinced this will do a great job solving it, " said Selectman Michael Harrity.

The board declined to take any action on the measure.