NEW SALEM — Town officials are working to determine ways to improve safety along Route 202, the site of numerous crashes over the years.

Selectboard member Mailande DeWitt recently spoke with Aaron Saunders, who represents New Salem and six other towns in the state House of Representatives, to discuss reducing the number of crashes on that particular stretch of road. Both told the Greenfield Recorder that because Route 202, also known as Daniel Shays Highway, is a state route, they plan to meet with the state Highway Division to try to better understand the source of the problem and how to remedy it.

DeWitt and Saunders floated the ideas of increased police monitoring, a flashing vehicle-activated sign to inform motorists of their operating speed and rumble strips to grab drivers’ attention. Both said that third measure has been implemented in Erving.

“Our main focus is … on safety when cars are coming into the center of town,” DeWitt said this week. “We want to be really aggressive on this, to see what we can get done within the fiscal year.”

Saunders said the stretch of road, a popular shortcut used by students of the Five Colleges, can be especially dangerous for drivers unfamiliar with the area.

“This is exactly the conversation we need to have right now,” he said.

Saunders mentioned he and his staff work closely with the state Highway District 2 Office, which he expects to meet with “in the relatively near future.”

DeWitt broached the subject with her colleagues at the Nov. 4 meeting, four days after a three-vehicle crash took place in front of her house just off Route 202. She mentioned she called 911 to report the crash, which was one of three significant collisions she reported near the center of New Salem in 2024.

In December, Gardner residents Gerald and Margaret Patriquin, ages 89 and 74, were killed in a three-vehicle crash near 648 Daniel Shays Highway. A 45-year-old Chicopee man, the driver of one of the other two vehicles, was airlifted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester for treatment. The driver of the third vehicle, a 35-year-old man from Orange, was treated at Athol Hospital, according to Lauriel Loisel, spokesperson with the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

According to the New Salem Police Department, the town as a whole saw 21 vehicle crashes, 604 traffic stops and 105 arrests in 2024. These numbers followed 33 crashes, 803 stops and 78 arrests in 2023. Also, there had been six reported collisions involving deer and several bear strikes as of Dec. 16.

DeWitt said she is also interested in adding another crosswalk on West Main Street, as that is a common crossing section for walkers.

Saunders said public officials must do everything in their power to keep their communities safe.

“It’s a beautiful roadway,” Saunders said of Route 202, “and unfortunately it lends itself sometimes to [drivers going] ... fast enough to put people in danger.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.