Two of the busiest roads on Martha’s Vineyard have seen an increasing number of vehicles in the last five years, leaving Island leaders wondering what can be done to ease congestion.
Edgartown-West Tisbury Road near Barnes Road, and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Edgartown have routinely seen the highest number of vehicles in the summer months, according to data collected by six traffic counters around the Island. The statistics show that more than 10,000 vehicles travel these roads daily in the high season, and more cars and trucks have been added in recent years.
While not surprising — stop and go traffic is common along Edgartown-West Tisbury Road and it often takes 30 minutes or more to get through the Triangle intersection — several town leaders said it is about time to take a look at alleviating the clogged roads.
“It’s something that has to be addressed,” said Edgartown select board member Alex Morrison. “I’m in full agreement there.”
To see how traffic patterns have changed, the Gazette analyzed the traffic counter data for the last five years in the summer months of June, July and August. Out of the six counters, which were originally deployed in 2019, the counters at Edgartown-West Tisbury Road just west of Barnes Road and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road just north of Dodgers Hole Road were consistently the two busiest locations.
In general, each saw a gradual increase over the five-year period, to the point where there were several hundred more vehicles passing each day.
For instance, in August 2022, the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road counter had an average of 14,103 vehicles daily. By 2025, that number rose to 14,842, before tapering off slightly to 14,700 in August 2026, making for almost 600 more vehicles daily when compared to four years prior.
During that same timeframe Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road went from 12,795 on average daily in August 2022, to 13,690 in 2026, or nearly 900 more vehicles daily.
June and July followed similar patterns.
In June 2022, the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road counter tallied up a daily average just shy of 11,000 vehicles. That number had grown to 11,639 in June 2026.
Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road during the same span went from 12,101 to 12,635 average daily vehicles.
Between July 2022 and 2026, the daily average went up by 611 between 2022 and 2026 at the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road counter and 550 at the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road counter.
The data does come with some caveats. Some of the most notorious intersections are not included in the counter locations. Five Corners in Vineyard Haven, for instance, is not one of the six. Officials have said that the nature of those intersections can make it hard to get an accurate count.
The other four active counters are at Edgartown-West Tisbury Road just east of Meshacket Road, Beach Road near the Big Bridge, State Road near Old County Road in West Tisbury, and State Road going from West Tisbury to Chilmark.
Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road has been a high traffic area for decades, passing between the three down-Island towns. Attempts to solve the issues also go back at least 30 years, said Edgartown police Chief Chris Dolby.
He recently stumbled across a Gazette article from 1997 that detailed then police Chief Paul Condlin’s attempts to make traffic better by temporarily shutting down Pinehurst Road, one of the tributaries of Main street — the destination of many on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.
“The man put his heart and soul in trying to help the Upper Main street traffic,” said Chief Dolby.
The former chief closed the road to traffic between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily with the idea that it would prevent added congestion from those trying to turn onto Upper Main. The change seemed to help, but drew the ire of the owner of Al’s Package Store, who said it was hurting business.
At the time, the old A&P grocery store had a traffic officer who would stop traffic to allow vehicles access to Main street.
Similar ideas are still floating around or being used today, as are concerns that fixing one area will cause new issues in another.
Chief Dolby said he has raised potential changes to help with the flow of traffic. Both he and Mr. Morrison said they’d like to have traffic experts look at the situation
“It’s gotten to a point where it’s time where we bring in someone versed in traffic patterns,” Mr. Morrison said. “It’s time we listen to the experts.”
Over at the Edgartown-West Tisbury and Barnes roads intersection, people often raise the possibility of a roundabout after the success of the roundabout further up Barnes Road at the former four-way stop location, Chief Dolby said.
Such a change would need the sign off from the state, which manages that section of roadway.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT) is in talks about the nearby Martha’s Vineyard Airport entrance road, which clogs up in the summer and feeds into the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road traffic.
Airport director Geoff Freeman acknowledged that the growing popularity of flying to the Vineyard has increased traffic in the area, but said the efficiency of the roundabout and increased development have also contributed to the traffic jams on Edgartown-West Tisbury Road.
To ease the pain in the area, the airport hires a detail officer to direct traffic at the entrance road when a large number of passengers leave the airport. Mr. Freeman also said he put a freeze on new lease areas at the airport business park until the traffic issue can be ironed out.
Mr. Freeman’s current goal is to get a right-hand turning lane out of the airport, but such a change has proved difficult. The challenge for the additional lane is who has rights over the land that abuts the existing road.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has easements in the area, and would need to sign off on the new lane. Being a state agency, the easement amendment would require the approval of lawmakers on Beacon Hill.
Just about every month, Mr. Freeman, DOT, DCR, the Federal Aviation Administration and other stakeholders meet to talk about the issue, as well as one of the runway approaches.
“It’s a legislative process,” he said. “And it’s a very complicated and time-consuming dealing with different entities in the commonwealth.”
Mr. Freeman believes that the Island’s road system needs to be looked at in an overarching sense in order to tackle the problem holistically.
“Is there a need for another roundabout at West Tisbury Road and Barnes Road? Those are all options that are out there but not one entity can make that decision,” he said.
The major hurdle the Island faces when it comes to traffic, though, according to Mr. Morrison and Mr. Freeman, is its popularity. The year-round population is higher than it used to be and vacationers sometimes bring several vehicles with them. There may be tweaks to make travel smoother, but there are only so many roads and only so many places for the growing number of drivers to go.
“They are public roads,” Mr. Freeman. “Everybody has the right to drive their vehicles.”
Comments (4)
Comments
Comment policy »