The Traffic Safety Committee for the Town of Northborough discussed a resident request to consider a heavy commercial vehicle exclusion for the short segment of Allen Street between Hudson Street and East Main Street.

Committee members said the request follows a pattern the panel has seen before: trucks encountering a height restriction at the Aqueduct bridge on Hudson Street turn onto Allen Street and then become trapped or create unsafe turning movements as they approach Rice and Colburn. Scott Charpentier, Department of Public Works staff, reviewed the history and said prior exclusions on Rice Avenue had prompted consultant recommendations to include connecting segments, which complicated winter maintenance and local circulation.

The matter drew safety concerns from committee members and residents on the call. Committee member Chris DeSantis described seeing large trucks ride the centerline while turning onto Allen Street and said walkers — including children — use the first few feet of several front yards as a path. “I’ve been walking with the dog and kinda close your eyes and wait for the truck to pass,” DeSantis said, describing close calls with tractor-trailers. Sergeant Tom McDonald of the Northborough Police Department asked how a truck exclusion would affect a local trucking business on Allen Court; Charpentier replied that trucks making legitimate local deliveries or doing business on an excluded roadway are allowed access to reach their destinations.

Members discussed tradeoffs. Several said excluding the short Allen segment could strand trucks once they pass the Aqueduct height restriction, forcing difficult reversing maneuvers or long backups to find a turnaround. Charpentier outlined mitigation options beyond a straight exclusion: intersection widening or adjusting curb lines at the East Main–Allen intersection to reduce the need for large trucks to encroach on opposing lanes; trimming roadside vegetation to improve sight lines at the Hudson–Allen stop; and targeted traffic counts to document truck volumes. He noted that a sidewalk project funded with ARPA would run behind the existing curb along Alice Street up to East Main Street, which could improve pedestrian comfort in the short term.

The committee asked staff to pursue additional data and options rather than take immediate regulatory action. Charpentier offered to seek traffic counts from the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) in spring and to review older MassDOT counts (which staff said are typically valid for three years). Committee members asked staff to keep the item on future agendas and to investigate intersection geometry changes and sight-line improvements.

Next steps recorded in the discussion: staff will consider CMRPC counts, follow up on potential roadway geometry changes while the Alice Street/East Main sidewalk work proceeds, and report back to the committee at a future meeting. No formal exclusion was voted on at this meeting.