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Letter to the Editor: New school will cause traffic issues

by | Jun 11, 2023 | Letter to Editor

I attended the online meeting on June 7 outlining the plans for the proposed new Elmwood School located next to the Marathon School on Hayden Rowe Street — a location behind the Start Line Brewery. I don’t believe many in this neighborhood are aware of the impact this new school is going to create not only on traffic but property values. Besides this new school proposal, it appears that a turning lane will be needed from the 147 Hayden Rowe proposed road and this will run past several homes to the Marathon School. It appears that at least 12 feet of land will be required to implement this, and that will adversely affect these homes (mine at 139 Hayden Rowe as one of them). So now we have the town building another school on wetlands, and I don’t think residents realize that when you start planning a three-wing, three-story school with parking lots, roads, fields, etc., where this water is going. Wintertime snowplowing is going to push all that snow into these wetlands, and when that melts, there will be flooding. At this meeting, we were told that a traffic study was done showing that traffic is heaviest at 6 a.m. and then again around 5 p.m. I don’t know where this study was done, but it certainly wasn’t done from my driveway. I think anyone living on Hayden Rowe will inform you that traffic is bottlenecked from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. and again from 2:30 p.m. until 6 or 6:30 p.m. I believe they are considering a traffic light at the Marathon School entrance. That would probably save the life of any crossing guard willing to stand out there directing traffic, but it would only add to the amount of traffic already backed up on Hayden Rowe. I don’t see how anyone coming out of Chamberlain Street would be able to negotiate a left turn. I think this would divert a lot of traffic into the Charlesview Estates area in order to avoid the Hayden Rowe area, especially if they ever connect Whalen Road to Chamberlain Street. They insisted that this new impressively large school isn’t the Taj Mahal, but it’s damn close. Something of this magnitude, besides the additional cost of moving telephone poles, mailboxes, fences, trees, etc., is going to significantly increase our real estate taxes.

— Ellen Holmes, Hopkinton

Editor’s note: The opinions and comments expressed in letters to the editor are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the Independent. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and must include the writer’s name and contact information for verification. Letters should be relevant and not primarily for the purpose of promoting an organization or event or thanking sponsors or volunteers. Letters may be edited by the Independent staff for space, errors or clarification, and the Independent offers no guarantee that every letter will be published. For a schedule of deadlines for letters and other submissions for the print edition, click here.

2 Comments

  1. Alphonse Budelay

    Amen., Amen, Amen. Finally a voice of reason and rationality relative to the siting of schools in the Town.

    Traffic on Hayden Rowe is already a mess due to the sheer number of schools in this area. Enough is enough. The Southern portion of Town is over-burdened (although some may say blessed} with the majority of schools in our Town.

    The compass also has North, East and West; pick one!! Go there with any needed school additions and do not burden the Southern part of Town any more than you already have. We have at least two schools located here now that are in the wrong place and should have been sited elswhere.

    The area directly South of the down-town area is severely congested due to the sheer numbers of schools, school buses, along with the teachers and student drivers that clog an important traffic corridor each morning and afternoon, five days a week. New Town construction needs to move elsewhere.

  2. Rachel

    I couldn’t agree more!!!!! Thank you for pointing out things people are not aware of

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