A serious motor vehicle accident last month at the intersection of Route 3A and Booth Hill Road in Scituate has prompted State Senator Patrick O’Connor to pen a letter to Jamey Tesler, Secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
“We’re asking the Department of Transportation to come down to Scituate and hear from residents and the town as to why this intersection needs to be fixed,” O’Connor said. “We should include residents and officials from Cohasset as well.”
O’Connor said State Representatives Joan Meschino and Patrick Kearney, whose districts include Scituate, signed on to the letter.
“The residents of the South Shore that use 3A on their commute are constantly giving feedback to our offices about how dangerous the landscape is for drivers,” Kearney said.
Bad accidents, real lives
A Scituate Mariner story from July 2021 described an accident at the Route 3A/Booth Hill Road intersectioon that left a Scituate woman with severe injuries.
In the letter, O’Connor expresses concern over the intersection, and mentions the Dec. 15 accident.
“The crash victim had to be transported via Med Flight to Boston due to significant trauma,” he states. “Luckily, she did survive but she has a long road to recovery ahead.”
He also brings attention to a very serious accident in August of 2020 at the same intersection which resulted in a young woman suffering significant traumatic injury.
“During that time, we engaged in conversation with MassDOT’s District 5 and the Town of Scituate with the hopes of reassessing the area and making safety improvements,” O’Connor stated in the letter. “We understand that in the past couple of years there has been some area cleanup and signalization updates, however we feel that more needs to be done.”
A blinking yellow light, such as the one at the Route 3A/Booth Hill Road intersection, does not do much, O’Connor said. While it may have served a purpose years ago, the data has shown that there are many accidents at the intersection, despite the blinking light, and that many of the accidents have been severe.
“We need better safety measures,” he said.
There are different options for intersections, such as providing more visibility as motorists approach the intersection, lowering the speed limit in the area, or installing traffic lights.
“It wouldn’t be anything that would significantly hamper people being able to commute along Route 3A,” O’Connor said. “But it needs to be something that will make sure that all motorists have a safe trip.”
Kearney has filed budget amendments in the past to fund construction of a traffic light to slow the traffic down, he said.
“We have been working with the DOT secretary and we’re hoping to get this implemented as soon as possible.”
Time is of the essence and O’Connor feels “we’re at the level of, this can’t wait,” he said, adding he believes there is a “pretty significant” accident in the area every four to six months.
“I really want to bring the experts in and see how we can work together on this. That intersection is probably the worst along that entire stretch of 3A. There needs to be something done. We need something done now.”