Route 3 winds through Plymouth like a lifeline, threading our historic town to the wider world. Yet this artery pulses with peril. In the past six months alone, crashes have claimed lives—a wrong-way driver in January, a suspected street racer in August, a young man veering into the woods in October. The Massachusetts State Police, tasked with its oversight, respond with diligence: troopers arrive swiftly, investigations unfold, charges are filed. But the question lingers, whispered on our streets and typed in our forums: Are these crashes being ignored? Not in execution, perhaps, but in the deeper sense of prevention, Plymouth’s stretch of Route 3 reveals a troubling gap – one that demands neither finger-pointing nor apathy, but a reasoned, centrist reckoning.
The data speaks starkly. MassDOT ranks Route 3 among the state’s most crash-prone corridors, with over 70,000 vehicles daily near Plymouth. In 2024, our segment saw at least four high-profile incidents – three fatal – clustering near mile marker 9.2 and Clark Road. State Police, via Norwell’s Troop D, act when calamity strikes: the January wrong-way crash shut lanes for hours as troopers probed its cause; August’s racing fatality spurred swift arrests. Yet recurrence gnaws at us. Speeding, wrong-way entries, and off-road veers persist, suggesting a reactive, not proactive, posture. Troop D’s roughly 100-150 troopers (a fair estimate from statewide figures) stretch thin across the South Shore, down from 2,200 statewide in 2010 to 1,917 in 2023. Resources lag as Plymouth grows – 5 percent since 2010, per the Census – while tourism swells our roads each summer.
This isn’t neglect by malice. State Police face a systemic bind: a 2021 overtime scandal and recruitment woes hobble staffing, while Governor Maura Healey’s $16.5b transportation plan prioritizes bridges and MBTA over highway patrols. Route 3, built in the 1950s, groans under modern loads – narrow shoulders, dim signs, and missing medians flagged in a 2022 MassDOT audit remain unfixed. Plymouth’s $1.2m in Chapter 90 aid (2024) patches local streets, not this state artery. The result? A corridor where response shines but prevention falters, leaving us to mourn losses that feel preventable.
A centrist lens rejects extremes. Progressives might decry a militarized police state, demanding funds shift to social programs; conservatives might laud troopers and blame reckless drivers alone. Both miss the mark. This is no tale of heroic cops or villainous bureaucrats – it’s a story of misaligned priorities and untapped potential. State Police aren’t shirking duty; they’re overstretched. MassDOT isn’t indifferent; it’s urban-focused. Plymouth isn’t powerless; it’s under-mobilized. The solution lies not in ideology but in pragmatic synthesis.
First, let’s reimagine enforcement. Massachusetts legalized speed cameras in 2023 – why not pilot them at Route 3’s hotspots? Duxbury’s 2022 sobriety checkpoints curbed wrong-way risks; Plymouth deserves the same. These tools don’t over-police—they deter. State Police could redirect 10 percent of construction detail hours (paid by contractors, per 2023 audits) to peak-time patrols, balancing budgets with safety. Second, infrastructure begs attention. A $20m slice of Healey’s climate resilience fund could install wrong-way detection tech – proven in Ohio to cut incidents 30 percent – and modernize exits. Plymouth’s Select Board should lead here, not spar with media, as in 2024’s noise flap, but lobby Beacon Hill for our share.
Finally, we must own our role. A “Route 3 Compact” – town, troopers, residents – could crowdsource crash data via a *Plymouth Independent*-hosted map, pairing citizen vigilance with state action. No partisan grandstanding, just collaboration. Critics will say drivers bear the burden – speed less, drink less. Fair enough. But when design and enforcement lag, personal responsibility alone won’t stem the tide.
Route 3’s toll isn’t inevitable. State Police respond admirably, but prevention demands more – more troopers, smarter tech, better roads. MassDOT must see Plymouth beyond Boston’s shadow. We must demand it, not with rancor, but with resolve. This isn’t about blame—it’s about lives. The Independent can ignite this dialogue, bridging state and street with facts and vision. Let’s not wait for the next siren. Let’s act, together, now.
– Ronald Beaty