Selectmen to hold hearing April 12 on possible Hingham road change

The Board of Selectmen will host a public meeting for interested residents to hear a presentation on the temporary pilot program to test a “road diet” on Summer Street and Rockland Street in Hingham from May 20 through July 31, 2018.

The hearing is set for Thursday, April 12 at 7 p.m. at Hull High School and will also be broadcast on Hull Community Cable.  

A road diet, also called a lane reduction, is one of several potential roadway safety improvements proposed for Summer and Rockland streets. 

A road diet is a technique used in transportation planning where the number of travel lanes are reduced in order to achieve enhanced safety through speed reduction and increased mobility and access for all road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists.

Summer and Rockland streets – from east of the Hingham rotary to the intersection at George Washington Boulevard – will be reduced from four lanes to two lanes, or one vehicle lane in each direction.  At both the Martin’s Lane and George Washington Boulevard intersections, four lanes of traffic and left-turning lanes will remain. The goal of the test program will be to measure in real-time traffic patterns and impacts and validate computer modeling of proposed long-term safety solutions.

Town officials, including public safety staff, have worked in conjunction with MassDOT and the towns of Cohasset and Hingham to develop the pilot program.

 For more information, visit the 3A Task Force website at www.hingham-ma.gov/795/Route-3A-Task-Force.