Elmwood Intersection Under Review

Drivers at Paradise and Elmwood Roads will see a temporary median on Elmwood Monday.

The barrels or cones placed in the middle of Elmwood near the intersection with Paradise will also have a sign that reads Keep Right, Assistant Town Administrator Dave Castellarin said.

“It should smooth out the traffic and calm down the speed on that road,” he said.

Members of the town’s will study temporary fixes before presenting selectmen any recommendation for a permanent fix, Castellarin said.

The ideas for a temporary median and restricted parking at the corner of Elmwood came from the traffic committee’s work.

Elmwood Road residents told the committee late last month that cars barrel over Paradise Road, swerve on to Elmwood Road and run a gauntlet of cars parked on either side of the road. The situation makes it perilous to pull out of an Elmwood driveway, they said.

On Thursday, committee members went to the intersection and observed, took measurements and talked about the problem and possible solutions.

Firefighters in the department’s largest truck, its ladder truck, approached the intersection from both directions on Paradise and turned on to Elmwood. Committee members observed the truck’s turns.

The committee rolled a measuring wheel to take measurements at the roadside.

They got a first-hand look at some Lynn-bound traffic on Paradise turning left on Elmwood and cutting across the opposing  lane.

“See that,” one group member said. An SUV turning left from Paradise on to Elmwood zipped across the outgoing lane on Elmwood.

Committee members include representatives of the fire, police and public works departments as well as the assistant town administrator.