MassDOT to Modify High Street Intersection

Some changes are coming to the intersection at High Street and Lowder Brook Drive. 

A recently-discovered safety concern has prompted Westwood officials to look into addressing vehicles that make a U-turn at the traffic signal between the roads.  

The problem lies with at the intersection lies primarily with drivers exiting Grove Street, which lies across Rte. 109/High Street from the yellow building that houses such businesses as the , according to Westwood Department of Public Works Director Vicki Vickrey-Quiram.

Vehicles leaving Grove Street, Quiram said, are forced to turn right on High Street, and then take a U-turn at the traffic signal by Lowder Brook Drive if they wish to travel in the opposite direction. 

The area is currently cluttered with Jersey barriers due to the by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.  

"We went down to MassDOT, met with them and said this was an unintended consequence of a project that no one thought was going to happen," Quiram explained to the Board of Selectmen earlier this week. 

MassDOT agreed to work on the modifications as part of the Add-A-Lane project, Quiram said, so long as Westwood came up with the design, which officials did with the help of Beta Group, Inc., the same consultants used to help with in several back roads of town. 

As part of the changes, MassDOT will remove a main traffic island located at Lowder Brook Drive, and will also "pull back" a second island to alleviate safety issues with vehicles making a U-turn. Much of the concern is around large trucks or other vehicles making such a move.

"It's a public safety concern," Quiram said. "One of the big islands will be taken out, so there will be more pavement without an island."

The traffic signals will also be modified, but will remain relatively the same, Quiram said. 

"Really, they're basically going to change the signal," Quiram said. "How it works will be changed; the timing of it will change."

As to when the actual work will be completed is still up in the air, Quiram said, but will be completed in junction with the completion of the road work in the area.