In Fitchburg MA there is reconstruction work of a rather busy intersection,>the corner of Summer Street and John Fitch Highway/Bemis Rd. Summer Street >runs approximately east-west through the intersection, John Fitch Highway >runs to the north and Bemis Rd. to the south, a standard crossroads. >There was also what amounted to a right turn ramp from Summer St. >eastbound to Bemis Rd. southbound. You could also drive it the other way >as well although nobody ever did since you'd have to turn left to get onto >it and then turn left again onto Summer St. It was really a two-way stub>section of Bemis Rd., and John Fitch Hwy. technically starts where this >ramp joins, not at the crossroads itself, although the roads were >definitely configured so that Bemis Road transisioned smoothly into John >Fitch Hwy. at the ramp thingy.>

It appeared to be normal reconstruction at first except odd placement of >new traffic signal posts. There were new ones at the intersection itself >which replaced an older signal, OK, as well as new ones for a fire station>at the NE corner, but they also placed ones at the Summer Street end of >the ramp thing/stub Bemis Road segment. Odder still was a post placed>for a signal about in the _middle_ of the ramp thingy, but closer to the >southern end. For a while these extra posts were unused, with no signals, >after the new ones at the main intersection were activated. (The ones for>the fire station are still unused)>

This weekend I saw what they did - On the short piece of John Fitch Hwy>south of the intersection, the SB lane is forced to turn right by a new >island and tees into the former ramp thingy, where you have to make a>left turn at the new light there! NB the single lane splits into two,>straight ahead to the main intersection or left up the ramp to that light>and past it to the other new light at Summer St. I guess it's similar to>the continuous flow intersection discussed in m.t.r in January, except>that would not have had that right jog but the new signal about at the>south end of the ramp.>

I'm not sure how well all this will work. There are often long backups>on SB John Fitch Hwy before reaching the main intersection, and the>right jog/new signal after it may slow traffic leaving the intersection>possib­ly worsening that backup. NB will almost certainly be better since>left turns will no longer be at the main intersection. This >reconfiguration also makes Bemis Rd. continuous and John Fitch Hwy. end>properly at a "T" with Bemis Rd.

This seems wierd, even for Fitchburg!

Having SB traffic turn right and then left at a second signal will>allow some vehicles to queue within the intersection, rather than>approaching it. Is the SB JFH stub (that turns right and left) one lane>or two?

If the traffic signals of the three intersections Summer/JFH,>Summer/­Bemis and JFH/Bemis are engineered with proper synchronization>and­ traffic sensing, then it could all work very well by allowing a lot>more overall traffic through. If not, it will still be Fitchburg.

I lived in Westminster for a couple of years and one of my best friends>still lives in Fitchburg. I'm always riding him about the huge "Zakim>Bridge" they built on a little side street.

Meanwhile, attempts to>widen Route 12 (an ugly, horribly clogged, essential, major artery>connecting downtown Fitchburg with Route 2 and downtown Leominster) are>met with baffling community opposition. It's all very wierd.