North Amherst Intersection - On Hold

Last Updated: July 25, 2023

Update: At this time this project is On Hold.

A single directional light has been installed at the Meadow/N Pleasant/Sunderland/Pine intersection. It is controlled by a camera system, that allows the adaptive ability to clear out congestion. New pedestrian signals and buttons have been moved back from the road, and all old signals and poles have been removed.

Project Background: For several years, the Town has contemplated making changes to this intersection. The intersection is actually the intersection of five roads, Montague Road (State maintained), Sunderland Road, Meadow Street, Pine Street and North Pleasant Street. In the first Pioneer Valley Planning Commission report of the “Top 100 Dangerous Intersections in the Valley,” this was the only intersection maintained by the Town to make this list. A change in the intersection rating system caused this intersection to drop off the report. 

Over the years of studying the intersection, small changes have been made to make it work better but they have failed to make a significant impact due to the growing traffic flow. The decision was made to make some physical changes to the area. The most important of these changes is to move the merging of Sunderland and Montague Roads further to the North. Some of the first concepts moved this merge north of the Mill River. It has been determined that would be too costly and impractical. The Town has decided to move the merge south of the river and has purchased the Old Sonoco gas station property to use for this purpose. 

The project has developed into quite a large project and the Town has sought State funds to help pay for the project. This has not been successful to date. To aid in our next submittal the Town contracted with CDM Smith to do an updated analysis of the intersection options. This analysis can be found below.

Documents 

Traffic Analysis report February 2019

Traffic Analysis Appendices A, B, C, E, F, G & H 

Traffic Analysis Appendix D