A friend of mine from graduate school came through town this summer and our conversations included her description of the gridlock she has to deal with in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D. C., where she has a faculty position. She organizes her life around avoiding rush hour; her husband, whose job doesn't have a flexible schedule, says his commuting time has doubled during the years they have lived in their house, even though he drives the opposite direction from most of the traffic.
We are heading toward that same fate. Most of us who have lived in this region for a decade or more can cite examples of reductions in our quality of life since our own arrival. Route 9 would probably be on most of those lists.
I avoid it as much as possible; even during the few months between the finishing of "the bridge" and the current widening I rarely drove to Northampton. As a result, I go to very few, which is frustrating. However, I recognize that I have the luxury of not needing to go to Northampton or Route 91 very often; some people don't have the choice: they live here and work there.
During one of my infrequent trips on Route 9, I saw one of the human costs involved in the widening: a couple looking in distress at a tree on their former front lawn that had recently been taken down by the Highway Department. It was one of several yards near the Coolidge Bridge that are immaculate. As the highway got busier and the Rail Trail came past their backyard, these property owners continued to maintain a much higher standard of yard and house maintenance than most. Having their front yards truncated and the traffic brought several yards or more closer to their front doors and picture windows must be heartbreaking for these people. Even though I, like most drivers on the road, don't really want to see more stores on Route 9, I find myself hoping that their property is zoned commercial; certainly they won't be able to sell it to a homeowner. The fate of those properties is to become either another store with yet another curb cut onto Route 9, or a gradually disintegrating rental, like many of the other houses along the road.
The same goes for that house on Route 9 in Amherst, opposite University Drive. Maybe I'm overly sentimental about it. In the neighborhood I grew up in, a house like that was slightly nicer than the average, and I think of it as a good solid house. I'm sure it will deteriorate as a rental.
The long-time owners of these houses have gotten no benefit from Route 9's prosperity, but they have paid a very high price in their quality of life. It's very sad. I wish that the "costs" and "benefits" of any change were paid for and enjoyed by the same people.
While I'm on the subject (mostly) of Hadley, here's another issue: emergency medical services. I think that with all the people Hadley is attracting to town, it should have its own ambulance.
I realized this about a month ago when I saw a Hadley police car, a group of bicycle riders in matching yellow shirts standing around, and one lying on his back next to the entrance to the flea market on Route 47 near Mt Holyoke. I was driving, not gawking, but my passenger said there were actually several police cars there. Probably the rider was struck by a car turning in to the flea market. I continued on and drove toward Amherst on Bay Road. Shortly before we got to South Maple Street, we saw an Amherst ambulance coming toward us - apparently on its way to pick up the wounded bicyclist. My passenger, who doesn't live in this area, commented, "What a long response time!" I explained about how they have to come from the center of Amherst, etc., but it's true: it was a long time to wait for an ambulance. It's not the fault of the Amherst Fire Department, which whom Hadley contracts for ambulance service - the distance is just too great.
Whenever any of us ventures out of our own town, we are counting on the emergency services of the town we are in – both for speed and expertise. I think municipalities, like Hadley, that purposefully attract a lot of people, should be providing quick and expert emergency medical service to those visitors when they need it.