“Which way do I go George, which way to do I go?”
A Quincy Quarry News photo

– News about Quincy from Quincy Quarry News   

Quincy Center traffic light confusion continues to worsen.

Just when one could not image that the trafficking problems in Quincy Center could become any worse, they did become worse.

As the Hancock Street Misalignment project is finally showing signs of probably wrapping this fall and thus roughly ten months behind its original projected completion of around the end of 2015 or thereabouts, massive sets of new traffic lights have been installed in front of the Granite Trust Building.

Pedestrians trapped in No Man’s Land
A Quincy Quarry News photo

As one can see from exclusive Quincy Quarry photos, the new traffic lights are at least as confusing as they are massive distractions.

Part of the confusion is that there is now a new and extra set of traffic lights controlling certain lanes of traffic within an also new, large as well as both greatly extended as well as complicated intersection.

This expanded intersection now spans over one hundred and fifty feet from in front of the Acapulco Restaurant on the corner of Hancock Street and Maple Street to the intersection of Hancock Street and Granite Street in front of the Stop and Shop corporate office building.

Even more Hawk Lights…
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive image

Of particular concern was how the whole of the newly enlarged traffic light-controlled intersection is very much unclear as to where and how pedestrians are supposed to cross the vehicular roadways. 

As one can see per exclusive Quincy Quarry photography, pedestrians are opting to jaywalk and out of likely confusion by it all, if not also frustration.

Further confounding things as well as also hard upon this confusing set of traffic lights is another set of also confusing new Hawk System pedestrian crosswalk and control traffic lights.

As the growing legions of loyal Quincy Quarry readers will recall, the new Hawk traffic light system was first reported as problematic by Quincy Quarry and was then similarly covered by both the South Shore Broadsheet as well as various major Boston news media.

Confusing traffic signals …

Overall, this new trafficking light mess of a design would appear to be on the order of the illegitimate offspring of any one of a number of confusing roadways in Downtown Boston that was originally a colonial-era cow path with the overall traffic and passenger flow design at Logan International Airport.

While so far no serious problems have been reported along this latest traffic mess in Quincy Center, all manner of problems are only to be expected given that most drivers are probably driving slowly and carefully through the area given the still ongoing as well as long behind schedule Hancock Street Misalignment project.

That and the usual presence of police details directing traffic as best they can through the construction zone surely also at least mitigates the potential for carnage.

A City on the Move stuck in gridlock?
An Iconic Quincy Quarry News file photo

When the local schools reopen after Labor Day and so officially end the summer vacation season, however, one cannot help but be concerned about the potential for near gridlocked trafficking along the Hancock Street Misalignment project.

It is also only reasonable to fear a second wave of trafficking problems when as well as when the Hancock Street Misalignment project might finally be completed and the trafficking mitigation efforts by police road construction work details are thus no longer present in the area.

In the meanwhile, per the informal observations of Quincy Quarry News personnel, one-fingered waves are already even more frequently seen along the still under construction Hancock Street Misalignment project.

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