<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2H3Sq5_1Gp3x1GI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2H3Sq5_1Gp3x1GI00" width="750" height="420" ><figcaption>A photo taken from Pleasant Street in Marblehead with the fire station on the right and cars turning on Ocean Avenue. (Sophia Harris)</figcaption></figure>Drivers approaching Ocean Avenue on Pleasant Street will share a single lane for through traffic and right turns under a plan intended to prevent close calls outside the fire station, where Fire Chief Jason Gilliland said passing vehicles have nearly struck department vehicles and damaged the ladder truck.The Select Board approved the striping and signage changes this week. In a separate decision, the board authorized temporary construction access across town property off Kenneth Road, requiring the replacement of public steps removed without permission during earlier construction.In an interview following the meeting, Gilliland said drivers traveling past stopped traffic in Pleasant Street’s separate right-turn lane can be difficult to see from vehicles leaving the station.“People come bombing down that inside lane, and they’re not thinking that people are pulling out,” he said.Gilliland said department vehicles have nearly been hit several times while pulling out. He also recalled at least two occasions when passing trucks struck and ripped off the ladder pipe, the large nozzle at the end of the department’s aerial ladder, costing thousands of dollars to repair.The ladder truck remains within the station’s ramp when parked there, he said, but passing vehicles have struck the equipment even with orange cones marking the area.His concerns also extend to firefighters who stand outside to help guide apparatus backing into the station. Gilliland said people on bicycles and in cars have traveled behind the trucks and across the ramp rather than waiting.“There are personnel out there, and I don’t want to see them get hit either,” he said.Town Engineer Maggie Wheeler presented the changes to the board following recently completed paving, saying the work offered an opportunity to improve safety through new markings and signs.Under the approved plan, an 11-foot inbound lane will accommodate both through traffic and right turns, with a 6-foot shoulder beside it. The existing right-lane-must-turn-right sign will be removed, and painted hash marks will delineate the area adjacent to the station.Wheeler said the proposal was developed in coordination with the town’s Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and reviewed with Gary Hebert, who has worked on the Pleasant Street corridor since 1998.Select Board Chair Dan Fox asked whether eliminating the separate right-turn lane would cause traffic to back up.“There may be some delay again, but it is a safety measure,” Wheeler said.She said the recommendation followed a review of traffic data and reflected the intersection’s proximity to an emergency facility.Gilliland acknowledged that drivers accustomed to using the right-turn lane would have to wait in the traffic queue.“But I think safety trumps convenience,” he said.On the outbound side of Pleasant Street, near the preschool driveway, the plan establishes an 11-foot through lane and a 10-foot left-turn-only lane. The left-turn lane’s stop line will be moved back to give vehicles turning from Ocean Avenue more room to negotiate the intersection.In response to a question from Select Board member Erin Noonan, Wheeler clarified that the setback applies only to the left-turn lane. Drivers continuing straight will stop in a position similar to the existing arrangement.Crosswalks will be repainted with continental-style markings, which Wheeler described as resembling railroad ties. She said those markings are easier for people with visual impairments to see than the existing design.The project does not change traffic signals or curbs. Gilliland said Friday he did not have a timeline for the new markings.In the separate Kenneth Road matter, the board approved temporary access across a town-owned parcel for construction associated with projects at 9 and 11 Kenneth Road.Select Board member Jim Zisson said timber steps on the public property had been removed without notifying the town during earlier construction, and that neighbors had complained about activity at the site.“They ripped those timber steps out, and without telling anyone, without telling the town,” Zisson said.Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said the earlier work had damaged town property and prompted Conservation Commission requirements for restoration. With construction planned on the other side of the path, the applicants were now seeking permission to use the property.Kezer said the authorization would allow that work to proceed while requiring the contractors to restore the public path with granite steps. He said the previous timber steps had already been in poor condition and would have required town attention.The approval does not relieve the applicants of obligations under the existing Conservation Commission enforcement order or other permitting requirements.Contractors must maintain public access during construction, meet the town’s insurance and excavator-registration requirements, and replace the removed steps with granite steps subject to Conservation Commission and town engineer approval.The board also required a licensed land surveyor to install property-boundary markers and submit a stamped survey documenting them.The authorization expires when the work and required conditions are completed or after three years, whichever comes first, unless the board grants an extension. It does not establish a permanent right of access across town property.</div></body>

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Drivers approaching Ocean Avenue on Pleasant Street will share a single lane for through traffic and right turns under a plan intended to prevent close calls outside the fire station, where Fire Chief Jason Gilliland said passing vehicles have nearly struck department vehicles and damaged the ladder truck. The Select...

Marblehead approves roadway safety changes

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Drivers approaching Ocean Avenue on Pleasant Street will share a single lane for through traffic and right turns under a plan intended to prevent close cal

Marblehead approves roadway safety changes

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