NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Police officers stuck at Center Street and Holden won't have to flash their lights to get through soon. 

 

Public Safety Committee last week recommended the City Council follow the Traffic Commission's lead to remove the "No Turn on Right" sign next to Public Eat and Drink.

 

"Most of the officers are saying you're stuck at that intersection," interim Chief Mark Bailey told the committee. "If you have an emergency, but it's not really emergency, you're trying to get to somebody, a call, a citizen or something, and you're not required to turn the blue lights on, you're stuck at that intersection light for a long time."

 

The police station was relocated to the Berkshire Plaza in 2023, in what had been the juvenile court. That offered plenty of more space for officers and better access for citizens, but also put the cruisers on one-way Center Street. 

 

Cruisers turning left have to put their lights on to make it through the dense crossing but vehicles turning right have to sit through the long light — even if there is no traffic.  

 

Bailey explained that this change will allow police officers more flexibility when responding to non-emergency calls, reducing wait times at the traffic light and reducing potential traffic congestion when emergency vehicles need to pass through.

 

"If you have other civilians that are stuck at that traffic light waiting for it to turn red to turn right, we have to turn blue lights to move them out of the way in order to get through the intersection, because it's very narrow," he said. "It's not like we can just sneak by."