MassDOT Presents Plan For Dangerous North Andover Intersection

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- The state's nearly-completed design for the intersection at Massachusetts Avenue and Chickering Road in North Andover alleviates traffic but does not do enough to address speeding, according to residents who heard the most recent presentation at Monday night's selectmen's meeting. The state expects the plan to be finalized by April 20, after which no changes can be made. The intersection was tagged for improvements in the 2009 Road Safety Audit by the Department of Transportation.

Changes in the current plan the addition of turning lanes to alleviate congestion that builds up at the intersection. The plan also calls for a pedestrian-activated, flashing yellow signal. The state scrapped plans for a light that turned red when activated by pedestrians because they are not recommended for intersections. The state had also considered a raised table in the intersection as recently as December, but on Monday state transportation officials told selectmen that idea was ruled to be impractical.

The state also plans to add more speed radar signs and a battery backup so the flashing yellow light will continue to operate in power outages. Traffic calming measures, including a stop light, have, however, been ruled out by the state.

See MassDOT's presentation to North Andover Selectmen on the intersection.

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Photo by MassDOT.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).