TO:                  Mayor William F. Martin, Jr.

                                    And

                        Members of the Lowell City Council

FROM:            Bernard F. Lynch, City Manager

DATE:             May 17, 2007

RE:                   Council Motion of 5/8/07 by Councillor Elliott

“Request the City Manager have the Law Department draw the proper vote to install a flashing red light at the intersection of Pawtucket and Fletcher Streets.”

________________________________________________________________________

Please be advised that I have contacted Jeff Gomes, Transportation Engineer, regarding the motion mentioned above.  Jeff has stated that he researched the traffic and accident data for the intersection of Pawtucket Street and Fletcher Street and made some conclusions.  Currently the intersection meets three warrants and met a fourth warrant in the last two out of three years for traffic signalization.  Meeting one warrant can be sufficient to merit traffic signal installation.  However, a flashing red light can only be installed where the warrants for a multiway stop are satisfied; this intersection does not meet that criteria.

Therefore, a flashing red light at the intersection of Pawtucket Street and Fletcher Street cannot be installed.  It is our hope that we can initiate discussions with Mass Highway Department during design of the new bridge to address signal needs in this area.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you.