The utter failure of the traffic light scheme at Malfunction Junction comes as no surprise to those of us who witnessed the sad demise of the sane solution proposed in the late 1990s: remove that sorry joke of a park at the lower end of Main Street and put in a roundabout.
Brattleboro is familiar with the advantages of a roundabout at the other end of town: smooth traffic flow, fewer fatal accidents, and less stagnant air from idling at the traffic lights.
“Wino Park” is in no way historic and, to judge from my 40-odd years of Brattleboro experience, very little used. It's a nuisance. Dogs get the greatest benefit.
But a loud gaggle of narrow-minded people calling themselves “preservationists,” whose outrage could not have been drowned out by a thousand vuvuzelas, managed to destroy that solution in favor of the current traffic light scheme, which is faring no better than the last traffic light scheme.
Perhaps it's a plot by New Jersey expatriates to have a reminder of the concrete, congestion, and air pollution they left behind. But whatever the case, it is clear that the whining of the few has resulted in the aggravation and inconvenience of the many.