Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Monday, December 9, 2013

Great Questions

I received the following email this morning.  Good questions.--ed.

Hi Wally,

In a comment on your last post, Ron Cerney wrote, asking about the plans for the jug handle and new left turn for Stallion Hill/OSV.  

Why are they doing this, one might ask. The loudest reason I've heard voiced on that matter is that people can't find Old Sturbridge Village. People found the Village easily for many decades, but they can't find it now? Years ago the sign for the Village was white with black lettering. You couldn't miss it. It seems to me that an easy to read sign with an arrow (not blending it with its surroundings) posted near the jug handle would be of great assistance. Then another, tasteful, also easy to read, white sign with black lettering at the Village entrance would lead the drivers right in. Right? So why all the roadwork? 
Attached here is part of what I was given as an observer at the last working meeting before the public meeting - showing the jug handle and left turn lane.

As always, thanks for helping to keep people informed.

Marilyn



WEST

3 comments:

  1. Marilyn,
    Thanks for the picture of the proposed changes. One thing i am not understanding though... So there will be a left turn lane for the village and still a jug handle. Will the jug handle be only for changing direction and the light only for left turns? It seems a little unnecessary to me. The jug handle right now serves both purposes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rob,
    I agree with you that the jug handle serves both purposes. I wasn't able to hear and understand just how the new, redundant and more complicated, design is supposed to work. All I know is that better signage for the Village should take care of the problem. Why all the roadwork???

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marilyn's ever so right - ALL that's needed is better signage. Seems like the more the State gets involved, the more confused things become: Why is the sign showing the narrowing of Rt 20 after Cedar St and not before? Statewide, why are "yield" signs placed 20 feet from where the actual merge occurs? Why am I thinking that "jughandle" pretty much means the same thins as "jughead?"

    ReplyDelete



Anonymous comments not accepted, and will be rejected. Please use your full name. Choose "Name / URL" and enter your name, and your name ONLY. Leave "URL" blank.