Safety demands stoplights

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To the Editor:

I realize the roundabout idea will be generating many letters and interest, but I gotta chime in. A couple of years ago, I lampooned the idea in an editorial by suggesting that we all crawl out of the dark ages and admit that a traffic signal at the old Blinker intersection would be the safest, smartest, and easiest thing to do.

Coming from another state, all of my early driving forays into Massachusetts were fraught with the difficulties of negotiating roundabouts and rotaries. I don’t know the correct protocols for entering them nor do I know just what’s in the mind of all the other drivers I will have to negotiate with.

In the summer, most of the drivers that traverse this intersection will have come from somewhere else and may never have seen a roundabout. There will need to be some prominent signage informing the motorist, bicyclist, moped rider, and pedestrian just what to do. Has anyone thought of that?

To be able to mitigate traffic flow, a traffic signal that can adapt to summer flow by extending the green signal on the east-west route when necessary is ideal. You don’t need to build more lanes or change the landscape at all. All the wiring from the blinkers should still be there, and put the lights on posts just as before.

And, for the purists, those that can’t bear the thought of imitating a proven safety feature that the mainland has enjoyed for a hundred years now just because “this is the Island,” you really need to get over it. The safety of our citizens and visitors demands it.

Bill Narkiewicz

Edgartown