LYNNFIELD — Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt presented the city’s plans to address traffic concerns at the intersection of Casco Road and Lynnfield Street at the Lynnfield Select Board meeting on Monday.
Bettencourt was joined by Peabody City Solicitor Don Conn and Peabody Ward 1 City Councilor Craig Welton to discuss the traffic intersection that affects Lynn, Lynnfield and Peabody.
The Peabody City Council voted unanimously to amend, draft and advertise a section of the city ordinance to prohibit vehicles from making a left turn from Lynnfield Street onto Casco Road and from Casco Road onto Lynnfield Street at its meeting on July 11, in a move that could prompt legal action from the City of Lynn.
The intersection of Casco Road and Lynnfield Street falls under the jurisdiction of Lynn, Lynnfield and Peabody. Casco Road is in Lynn, while Lynnfield Street is in Peabody, although a street with the same name in Lynn also connects to Casco Road.
“The City of Lynn is not in support of this action, and I do not want to put Lynnfield in a position where there’s a dispute or a disagreement between the City of Lynn and the City of Peabody. That’s not why I’m here,” Bettencourt said. “However, this dramatically affects Lynnfield, I believe.”
He acknowledged the traffic concerns in the areas of Lynn End Road, Salem Street, Tree Top Lane, and other neighboring streets that will be affected by the traffic buildup.
“We’re all trying to figure things out to protect our communities as best we can,” Bettencourt said.
Seven residents of Tree Top Lane, representing four of the five houses on the street, attended the meeting and spoke about the traffic concerns and the safety of the 11 children who live in their neighborhood.
They addressed the concerns of buses being able to access their neighborhood with the proposed traffic changes.
Pavel Kazlouski, a resident of Tree Top Lane, asked how many accidents occur at the intersection.
Bettencourt said he did not have the statistics present, but they record an average of 10 accidents per year. “It’s more the magnitude and the seriousness of those accidents.”
“To the mayor’s point, we’re hopeful that we can reduce the opportunity for some of these accidents,” Welton said. “As the mayor mentioned today, we’re looking for a positive way to move forward with this.”
