Destruction of Sagamore Circle Unnecessary What is the cost of the "South-side Connector"? Channeling Traffic from I-495 over the Bourne Bridge & connecting to Rt-6 east of the canal?

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Remember, the launch of the Challenger had been "Fast Tracked"!! ref#1 (The Governor was trying to facilitate "change", but we need to be flexible enough to embrace the "new" Roundabout technology") Replace Sagamore Circle with a "flyover" spaghetti interchange adding 3 new Signalized Intersections for ~$60,000,000 million?? vs Re-stripe & Re-sign the existing circle according to FHWA/MUTCD Standards for ~$100,000? Retro-fit example thus allowing time for expert Roundabout opinions to be sought! (& all this while a crumbling District 2 bridge on Rt 20 in Palmer, & adjacent Rail bridge remain neglected - map, photos) I'm told this is just 1 of 500 crumbling bridges throughout Massachusetts A thoughtful jesture by the government would be to offer Bourne a new Firestation & Chamber of Commerce building, regardless of the final design that gets built!! Sagamore Circle (built ~1933) to be replaced by a Flyover with 3 signalized intersections, vs reconstruction as in Kingston NY, or 2-lane Roundabout w/ Flyover for $22 million in Johnson City, NY, while District 2 bridge in Palmer is left in shambles since ~1990 Design work by Fay, Spofford & Thorndike Inc. & environmental study by EarthTech (Boston Office, release ~11/03) Now that the Conservation Law Foundation has settled in the Keene, NH case (after ~6 years!) so construction of the 1st Roundabout on Rt-9 can proceed, maybe they can direct their resources toward minimizing the impact on the Sagamore area?

Flyover plans with 3 Roundabouts instead of 3 signalized intersections: Plan (1.8mb pdf); Report (0.5.83mb pdf); Ortho photo (0.486mb pdf)

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Doomed?

Threatened?

For more on Sagamore Circle see (APCC) & (CCC)

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Transformation of Kingston NY "Classic" Traffic Circle to modern Roundabout

At Exit 19, I-87

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            Palmer Rt-20 & Rt-67, Cooley Bridge
MHD District#2
(Built in 1931, in 2003 had an AASHTO Bridge rating of 25 out of 100)
2003 STIP lists this as a $5.3 million project




   

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Written June'03 by R.N.White, revised Dec'04
Email: NEAR(at)cox.net

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© 2003-2005, RNWhite