Harwich Traffic Safety Committee Backs Route 28 Signalization Pursuit at Uncle Vinnie's Depot

HARWICH -- July 14, 2026, Harwich Traffic Safety Committee reaches consensus to pursue federal funding for a $2 million to $3 million traffic signal on Route 28. At the July 14 monthly meeting, the committee agreed by consensus to move toward a Transportation Improvement Program application for full signalization at the Uncle Vinnie's Depot intersection, the only solution Mass DOT has said will permit a pedestrian crosswalk there, a timeline members stressed could run five to seven years from application to construction. The committee also celebrated the substantial completion of two projects more than a decade in the making: the Old Chatham Road and Route 39 intersection reconstruction, at roughly $330,000 in Chapter 90 funds, and the Route 28 sidewalk, a $3.5 million project the town secured for a local contribution of approximately $250,000, with an additional $300,000 donated by Paul Manning. A committee firefighter member presented data showing 266 crashes over three years on Route 6 between the former exits 10 and 11, where acceleration lanes are roughly half the federally standard length, and the committee directed staff to consult traffic engineer Steve Tupper on how to get those ramp improvements onto the state's five-year plan. The committee re-elected its chair, named a vice chair, and confirmed a clerk in a unanimous reorganization vote, with one Select Board-appointed seat remaining vacant and set for advertisement in the August town newsletter.