Pilot Four-Way Stop At Surfside And Miacomet Roads Under Consideration Ahead Of Town Meeting Vote

Town staff is recommending the installation of two stop signs at the intersection of Surfside Road, Miacomet Road and Surfside Drive, creating a four-way stop for a trial period during April. Based on community feedback and existing safety data, the town will then decide whether to make the stop signs permanent or remove them.

Island resident Walter Flaherty submitted an article for this spring’s Town Meeting that would see stop signs installed at the intersection. The town is now getting ahead of that proposal, with a plan to put the stop signs in temporarily in advance of the vote. Voters will then have the chance to weigh in on the future of the signs on Town Meeting floor.

The Select Board is set to vote on approving the trial period at its meeting on Wednesday. The stop signs could make the intersection safer, but could also increase traffic in the area.

Transportation program manager Mike Burns said that the signs could be warranted “because of the high crash numbers,” but that “there will be some congestion at the intersection.”

“If you can imagine what the cues are like for the Bartlett-Surfside Road intersection, [it] probably won't be as bad as that, but comparable, so that's really the trade,” he said.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation reviewed the intersection and concurred that the stop signs could be warranted.

The Finance Committee voted to recommend taking no action on Flaherty’s article, given the existing plan to trial the stop signs regardless of the vote.

In an online poll conducted on the Current's Instagram page last week, 53 percent of respondents were in favor of the stop sign proposal, with 47 percent opposed. A total of 1,473 votes were submitted during the 24 hours the poll was open.