I was thrown for a bit of a loop this week when I went to turn right from under the railroad bridge at Bacon St. on to Rte. 135 west near Wellesley College and found that there was no longer a second lane there like there was last week.
Upon closer inspection (and after getting email from a reader about the change…he wasn’t happy about the traffic ramifications), I noticed that indeed freshly painted lane stripes had reduced the former two-lane stretch into a single lane. Friday I saw that dedicated turning lanes had also been painted along the Rte. 135 stretch between Weston Rd. and Bacon St.
The changes to this state-owned segment of roadway were initially requested by Wellesley College, which hired a traffic consultant to examine the stretch of roadway to improve safety/traffic flow. The town, on the college’s behalf, requested changes to the state’s Department of Transportation since the stretch of roadway is state-owned. “In 2009 MassDOT reviewed and analyzed the crash data that the Wellesley Police Department provided and decided to modify the pavement markings on Central Street to provide one through lane in each direction except at the intersections. Last week it was re-striped by DOT crews,” according to Helmut Ernst, a district highway director for the state’s highway division.
I find it amazing that anyone, let alone a purported traffic expert, would feel the recent lane changes to Route 135 somehow improve the safety of drivers and/or flow of traffic. Drivers heading westbound are now required to merge from two lanes to one, back to two, and then finally once more back to one, all the while having to zigzag from left to right, just to stay within the new, single lane.
Nevertheless, I can somewhat understand the need on the westbound side for turning lanes into Wellesley College and onto Bacon Street – even though the later is a necessity more for the cars turning onto Rt.135 (that routinely pullout halfway into the right-hand lane) than it is for those turning off of it. But I cannot comprehend what the benefit of narrowing the road to one lane on the eastbound side accomplishes. This morning, at 8am, the eastbound side of Rt. 135 was backed up to the entrance of Wellesley College! The reason? Because all of the drivers, who normally are in the left-hand lane in preparation for turning left onto Weston Road, were forced into the same lane as those going straight through Wellesley Center; a lane that was already prone to backing up with long lines of waiting cars. Now, because the turning lane for Weston Road doesn’t start until about 300 feet before the light, drivers turning left have no choice but to sit and wait. So frustrated was one driver, that he decided to head back the other way. So what did they do? Pulled into the westbound lane and performed a 10-point turn right in front of several cars heading west at 45 MPH. Talk about dangerous…
If Wellesley College is so concerned about the safety of the drivers on Rt. 135, why don’t they allow the campus property that abuts the eastbound side of Rt. 135 to be used to widen the road? Push back the sidewalk, keep two lanes in either direction, and create a turning lane that runs down the middle of the road. Westbound, it can be used for turning into the main entrance of Wellesley College, as well as the dorms and athletic fields. Eastbound it can be used by the motorists turning left onto Weston Road. Because right now, it seems to me that the only person these lane changes are benefiting is that nut, draped in a flag, riding his recumbent bike at 5-mph up and down Rt. 135 during rush hour.
The new turning lanes were intended to make the turns safer, but the way in which cars have to weave to follow the lane shifts is just ridiculous. My guess is that the new paint is some sort of short term test, and hopefully they will repave the horrid bumps and then pick a less dramatic way of painting the lanes.
I do think that the Bacon street turning lane is of some help, but it comes too soon after the left hand turning lanes at Wellesley college.
This is exactly how government is not supposed to work. Changes made the middle of the night without public input solely for the benefit of Wellesley college. The changes have created a more dangerous situation with all the swerving back and forth and because the turn lanes are too short. The real solution should be to repave and slightly widen rte 135 which is long overdue.
I agree that they should widen 135!!!
This is by far the silliest and most dangerous thing I have ever seen! Now I am sure there will be more accidents on this stretch of road. Cars are confused as the road changes back and forth from one lane to two lanes and back again. I have already seen to near miss accidents. Also cars are driving in the part where it was the second lane and then cutting back in. I travel this road every night on my way home and I am not happy about it. When was the town thinking when they did this … Not even spending the extra money to resurface the road.
I go to Wellesley College and I have also lived in the town for years, I am a driver and have to drive down this stretch constantly. I do approve of the new lines (before, 2 cars could not fit side by side going towards Natick and coming out of Bacon was a death trap), but I think the real problem is the state of the road. My dorm is right on 135 and when my window is open at night, all I can hear is cars going over the bumps. Why are the bumps even on the road? The road needs some serious repaving…
Absolutely ridiculous. This looks like it was done without any public input just the input from the elitist’s at Wellesley College and done in the dead of night nonetheless. The most aggregious part of this is that this stretch of road is in horrendous condition already and to cut out the lines and make it even worse is just plain stupid.
I’m totally on board with reducing traffic accidents, however, the way these new lanes work, drivers are literally *swerving* back and forth between one lane and two lanes in a way that is not intuitive and is very confusing. Plus what Errol says is right on. I wish they would rethink this (and repave the road while they’re at it).
While these new lane designations will probably do more harm than good, I think the bigger issue Wellesley is is the two, mainly, single lane busy routes that merge into one big mess for few hundred yards in front of Cafe Mangal and the library and such. There was an intersection like this right near my college….it sucked during rush hours too!
The change approaching Weston RD on RT 135 from the west is particularly not well thought out. The turn lane is much too short during morning rush hour. Unnecessary delays will result from cars wishing to turn left onto Weston RD blocking all eastbound traffic.
Did the traffic engineers study this on Sunday morning at 5am?