Selectmen Approve Two Stop Signs on Pacella Drive at Chute Road Intersection

The Dedham Board of Selectmen voted unanimously last Thursday night to install two stop signs on Pacella Drive, at its intersection with Chute Road, partially fulfilling a long-time wish of neighbors.

Neighbors had hoped for a four-way stop at the intersection, saying cars frequently speed through the neighborhood, which plays host to two schools.

In a letter presented to the board at the Town Hall meeting, Sam Rubin, who moved into 73 Chute Road in 1960, wrote, "...parents from Ursuline Academy and Dedham [Country] Day [School] have been driving quite fast through the intersection."

The selectmen read figures from a week-long December 2011 DPW study, which said that Chute Road averages 149 vehicles a day driving no faster than 23 miles per hour, while Pacella Drive averages 144 vehicles at 24. State regulations do not call for stop signs at figures close to those, selectman Michael Butler said, but sight of the intersection from Pacella is difficult enough to warrant two stop signs at that spot.

The intersection has seen only one accident in the last six years, and none in the last four, according to the report. Still, neighbors said they found the intersection unsafe. Tom Gorman, who lives at 107 Chute Road, said he walks his dog near the intersection and is struck by the speed of some of the cars.

"We'd really like a four-way [stop]," he said. "Two would help."

Nora Robertson, of 125 Chute Road, also spoke at the meeting, saying the lone accident the report mentioned involved an acquaintance of hers, and that stop signs would have served to prevent it.

The board voted to install the stop signs, and to re-evaluate the situation after six months to see if two more signs would be needed.