Speed cushions need a tweak

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on September 14, 2007

Less than a week into an experiment to use so-called speed cushions to slow down and possibly reduce the amount of traffic on Lincoln Avenue, the devices will need to be reconfigured.

The Select Board Monday voted 3-1 to have the Department of Public Works adjust these cushions, or speed pillows, so that vehicles heading to and from the University of Massachusetts on the residential street will be forced to go over them, rather than around them.

The failure in the effectiveness of the speed cushions, installed last week on three separate sections of the road, seems to have resulted from the board's vote last month mandating 3-foot wide bicycle lanes on both sides of the road. This led to gaps in the cushions at both the edges and center of the road through which vehicles could drive without being impeded.

Board Chairman Gerry Weiss said he asked DPW Superintendent Guilford Mooring if the project would be compromised with the mandated bicycle lanes, and was assured that it would not be.

"The project was compromised," Weiss said. "The barriers can now be straddled by almost all automobiles."

Board member Anne Awad said she was surprised to see gaps in the speed cushions.

"I just didn't understand these were short little bumps and not continuous bumps," Awad said.

With the vote, Town Manager Larry Shaffer said he will instruct Mooring to make sure the devices work as designed and maintain a bicycle lane

"I'm going to ask for the neighborhood and Select Board's patience as we tinker with this experiment," Shaffer said.

The original intent was to allow emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks, to be able to straddle the cushions, but not regular vehicles. Right after installation, though, the board began receiving letters from concerned residents, such as Nancy Ratner of 199 Lincoln Ave., about their ineffectiveness.

"This means that cars that initially slowed down are already taking the road at their former speed, and there appears to be no reduction in the number of cars," Ratner wrote. Besides the cushions, there are also devices on both Lincoln and Sunset avenues to measure the speed and volume of traffic that will tell if the cushions end up working. One concern has been that successful cushions will mean diverting traffic to the adjacent Sunset Avenue.

Board member Alisa Brewer said it is a priority to slow people down. "I don't expect you to make everyone happy with this experiment," Brewer said.

Each cushion is made from recycled rubber tires and has yellow stripes painted on its surface. In addition, yellow signs along the road alert drivers to their presence.

Robert Ackermann of Sunset Avenue asked the Select Board to have a more transparent process before adjusting the speed cushions, possibly giving people an opportunity to see what they will look like before they are rebolted into new positions.