Summer vehicle traffic numbers from the Steamship Authority are on track to match last year’s record-breaking figures, and backups continue to snarl Island roads in July and August.
An automatic traffic signal has been placed in Monument Square, Oak Bluffs, the first traffic signal in southeastern Massachusetts to be accepted and approved by the Department of Public Works, according to town officials. With five streets opening into the square and carrying the bulk of Island traffic, this signal splits and divides the stream of vehicles in a way calculated to eliminate practically all confusion.
The Edgartown planning board has begun gathering information and suggestions in the latest attempt to solve, or at least improve the traffic snarl created in the village by cars headed to Chappaquiddick during the summer months.
The Fourth of July weekend, off to a quiet start with festivities dampened by heavy rain and winds, was relatively quiet for police, but busy for the Steamship Authority. The weekend began with wind and rain associated with Hurricane Arthur.
The longstanding issue of whether to build a connector road will come before Tisbury voters again at a special town meeting next week, this time in three parts, but with the total price tag unknown. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Five Corners intersection took center stage at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission this week as public discussion began about potential traffic impacts from the planned Stop & Shop expansion in Vineyard Haven.
