WESTFIELD – The city is engaged in investigating the merits of a slip ramp on Turnpike Industrial Park Road to mitigate traffic at Exit 3 on Interstate 90, according to City Engineer Mark Cressotti.
Cressotti said the majority use of the jug handle at rush hour is going east. The city hired VHB (Vanesse Hangen Brustlin Inc.) engineers to do a study on the feasibility of using the slip ramp on the other side of 10-202, currently used as a maintenance road by MassDOT trucks to get on and off the highway, as an alternative access for east bound traffic. VHB had previously looked at the turnpike interchange for the city, he said.
Cressotti said they are now in receipt of a draft of the proposal from the engineers. “We’re in the very early stages,” he said, adding that after reviewing the draft in order to “tweak” it, they will make a proposal to the MassDOT to take it up.
Senator Donald F. Humason said traffic congestion is one of the reasons for looking at a new exit between 2 and 3. “Only the people needing to get off there would get off. Other people could get off at 2 ½, closer to their destination,” said the senator, a member of the working group for the feasibility study.
“My hope is we get the Commonwealth to agree to build a new exit, which will reduce the volume at Exit 3,” he said, adding that, to their credit, the Commonwealth and MassDOT are coming up with recommendations, narrowing down possible locations for the new exit between the current 2 and 3 exits.
Humason also said he doesn’t think using the slip ramp would give enough space for trucks to get up to speed and merge into two lanes of traffic.
“It’s all about volume. As the economy improves, more people are back to work and on the road,” Humason said, adding, “It’s no fun, I completely get it. I have experience at rush hour. It’s miserable while you’re in it.”
Cressotti said he believes the ramp would allow more time to merge into traffic than the clover leaf does.
As for the new interchange between 2 and 3, Cressotti said from his perspective that will take years. In fact, the estimate given by the MassDOT at the February kickoff meeting of the working group to study a new interchange was 8 years.
Cressotti said this would be a lower cost, roughly $2.5 million compared to an estimated tens of millions or more for a new interchange; a more immediate resolution to the problems, and would be achievable in 2 ½ years.
Cressotti also said the MassDOT knows that the city is looking at it, and he said they’ve had a positive response from some individuals. “Until they look at it, we don’t know if it has legs or not,’ he said.
However, he said currently the turnpike exit is causing a backup “way back” on the turnpike, which he called “dangerous.” “If this is something with not too much dollars that will relieve the DOT’s problem, I think they will be looking at it seriously,” Cressotti said.
