SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

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Bedlam on the bypass

By Chris Cassidy
STAFF WRITER
Published: September 11, 2008

SALEM — Since it opened outside her home last month, Carol Brunaccini says the bypass road has become a racetrack — and she means that literally.

"One weekend, we had a group of 20-something kids hanging out at the Carlton School," Brunaccini said. "I assume they were drinking because they had containers with them."

They were standing near the school parking lot cheering on about five motorcyclists who were drag racing up, then down the bypass road, Brunaccini said.

The commotion drew curious neighbors out of their homes, but by the time police arrived, the bikers had vanished.

Salem's bypass road was supposed to allow drivers to get in and out of the downtown faster.

It worked — maybe too well.

"It was a nice, quiet neighborhood," Brunaccini said. "Now it's like living next to (Route) 128."

Even before the one-mile, $15 million straightaway to downtown Salem opened last month, police knew the road might tempt lead-footed drivers.

It's a speed demon's dream — flat, wide and straight.

"It presents an attractive opportunity for people to see how fast you can go," said Salem police Capt. Brian Gilligan.

Brunaccini said she's seen motorcycles doing wheelies on the straightaway.

One night while working a detail on foot near Bridge Street, Gilligan saw a motorcycle fly over the Salem-Beverly bridge and onto the bypass road.

"I'd characterize him as somewhere in the 80 to 90 to 95 mph range," Gilligan said. "You were crossing your fingers hoping the kid would make it."

Incidents like those are prompting police to start strictly enforcing the new road's speed limit, which tops out at 35 mph. Already, officers have written between 25 and 30 traffic citations since the bypass road opened on Aug. 18. The vast majority have been for speeding, with many violators cruising at 20 miles per hour over the speed limit, Gilligan said.

"The idea that that's going to be a drag strip is unacceptable," Gilligan said. "We're going to be running radar out there and doing a considerable amount of enforcement to get the message across to people that the speed limit's going to be enforced."

Although speed has been a top concern, Brunaccini and other neighbors have also endured excessive noise, mainly from motorcycles and cars with illegal mufflers, she said.

No sound barrier has been set up on her side of the road, Smith Avenue, which is on the North River side, she said.

She also rents out a second home, also on Smith Avenue, and wonders what effect the new road will have on attracting new tenants.

"I'm nervous as a landlord now," she said. "How am I going to rent to good people when I have this noise situation happening?"

One partial solution, she said, is forcing commercial traffic, including trucks, onto Bridge Street, which she says has seen a dramatic drop in traffic since the bypass road opened.

"They deserve to have a high quality of life," said state Rep. John Keenan, who attended a neighborhood meeting on the effects of the bypass road a few weeks ago.

Keenan said he's working to help address the neighbors' concerns.

"Although it lends itself to that kind of racing, it also lends itself to a great speed trap," he said.

More are on the way, police said.

"We're going to do everything in our power to set the tone early ... that the speed limit is what it is for a reason," Gilligan said.

Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salemnews.com.

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