The City of Ludlow is discussing converting a portion of Montrose Street into a one-way.
Montrose Street is in eastern Ludlow and runs east to west from Highway Avenue, sloping downward to West Street. Montclair Street runs north to south, creating a four-way intersection along the slope. The City of Ludlow manages the street.
Last week, city council discussed converting a stretch of the street into a one-way. Ludlow is exploring this due to safety concerns. Due to its slope and width, drivers can face spacing issues. On-street parking is also allowed, adding to the spacing issue. This can be further amplified during the winter when snowy and icy conditions are more prevalent.
Despite this, some council members and city officials raised concerns about the ordinance’s effect.
Public Works Director Shane Hamant brought up how shifting the street’s direction would impact snow-plowing operations during the winter.
“If you’re only going down, then we (public works employees) won’t be able to come back up that road to get to Elm,” Hamant said.
Furthermore, Hamant said it would benefit Ludlow to conduct a traffic study on Montrose Street to find out exactly how many car wrecks there have been over the past 10 to 15 years. This way, the city could better understand the street’s impact on driver and pedestrian safety.
Councilwoman Julie Terry Navarre said the city should send a letter to residents living around Montrose Street to inform them of the public discussion taking place.
“I seriously think we need to at least let the residents of that area know about it and have an opinion,” she said.
“It will affect their daily commute, so a conversation needs to happen.”
While a first reading of an ordinance was listed on the city council’s agenda, the legislative body chose not to take action at that time. Ultimately, they decided to table the discussion, opting to give residents who live near Montrose Street to weigh in on the issue.
“I’m hearing that there’s a desire to table this because we want to correspond with the residents out there, then make a decision,” Mayor Chris Wright said.
