Talks underway to build rotary at intersection of St. James Ave. and Tapley St.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Springfield officials are brainstorming a way to potentially improve one of the most dangerous intersections in the city.

Talks are underway to build a rotary at the intersection of St. James Avenue and Tapley Street We showed one local business the renderings to get their thoughts.

“I mean, it doesn’t look that bad, but everything on paper doesn’t come out in real life how you draw it on paper,” said Johnathan Heredia.

He and Rashel Ntelo work at Fresh Cut in Springfield, situated at the intersection of St. James Avenue and Tapley Street which has been pegged by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation as one of the state’s top 10 high crash locations in recent years.

“There was just an accident there yesterday, so it proves the point,” Heredia said.

Springfield Police public information officer Ryan Walsh told Western Mass News that since January 1st, 2021, there have been 15 crashes at the intersection.

A plan is now on the table to put a rotary there. We showed Ntelo and Heredia, but they are not convinced this is the answer.

“Nice and safe are two different things. it’s not safe,” said Ntelo. “The safety of our clients, you know, that always comes first and it may have an effect on that.”

The intersection is situated next to I-291, and the report cited the interstate connector as the cause of congested conditions. Now, attention shifted to a design public hearing for the proposed multi-lane rotary next week.

“I mean, the one at six corners makes sense because it’s a lot of streets coming in and out of there,” Heredia said, “but I just don’t see the way the traffic flow there would make any sense to put a rotary in there, think it’d just be a big headache.”

The public hearing will take place next Tuesday, April 5th at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be open to the public. You can find more information here.

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