Gridlock at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven and endless backups at the Triangle in Edgartown are long-accepted headaches in July and August, but with new hot spots cropping up every year, summer traffic jams appear to be spreading around the Island.
In West Tisbury, a long line of vehicles now regularly backs up for miles around the village on Farmers’ Market Saturdays.
This year suddenly it’s the same story, only daily, at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, where a long line of traffic can frequently be found snaking out the exit road that leads to the West Tisbury Road.
Airport manager Ann Richart said the problem can be tracked to a seasonal uptick in flights and larger planes.
“This time of year we have three more airlines landing in 50 to 100-passenger jets,” Ms. Richart said. “They’re all scheduled at the same time, so during those flight times there is congestion.”
As an arm of the airport business park that now includes a liquor store, fish market, gourmet food market, furniture store, a dentist office complex, veterinary hospital and tennis and fitness complex — the area is a busy commerce center as well.
Ms. Richart said traffic is at its worst between noon and 3 p.m. “People trying to do business at the airport should plan to do it early in the day or later in the afternoon,” she said.
Island law enforcement leaders agreed that increased airport traffic and popularity of summer events has put more strain on Island streets.
“There are more and more cars, and it’s getting worse,” said Tisbury police Lieut. Eerik Meisner.
Just how many cars can be found clogging Island roads on any given summer day remains an elusive topic.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission uses traffic counters each summer to measure traffic flow at various spots around the Island. No data is yet available for this summer, but MVC transportation program manager Mike Mauro said this week that the commission is planning new strategies for gathering traffic data.
“We’re in the process of getting permanent count stations,” he said, adding that the commission is looking into applying for federal aid to purchase a traffic radar detector.
West Tisbury police chief Matt Mincone, whose department has its hands especially full on Farmers’ Market days, was sanguine.
“The bottom line is it’s summertime and everything slows down,” he said.
Oak Bluffs police Lieut. Timothy Williamson said in his town traffic is at its worst during ferry arrival and departures.
“There’s just so many cars and people with limited parking,” he said.
Meanwhile, bottlenecks at Beetlebung Corner in Chilmark were a topic for the town selectmen this week.
Town library director Ebba Hierta told the board at its regular meeting Tuesday that the library parking lot is filling up frequently, particularly around noon during what she called the “Beetlebung rush” when parents are picking up their kids from summer activities at the school or community center. She said it leaves library staff and patrons with nowhere to park.
“We’re getting pushed out of our lot and pushed out of the school lot, and we’re leaving our patrons with no place to go,” said Ms. Hierta.
Police chief Jonathan Klaren later confirmed the problem.
“Noontime Monday through Friday is just a busy time at Beetlebung Corner,” the chief said.
Selectmen agreed to call a meeting soon to tackle the problem.
“The important thing is that we’re trying to be good neighbors. It gets very crowded and slightly insane, and we want it to stay safe,” said selectman Jim Malkin.
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