Temporary traffic pattern in place for the summer in Hingham

A temporary traffic pattern called a "road diet" is in place for the summer in Hingham.

The idea behind the road diet is to reduce a 4-lane stretch of road from the 3A rotary out towards Hull to two lanes, one in each direction, because of safety issues.

According to MassDOT, the hope is that the two-month pilot program will improve safety along the busy stretch of road leading to Hull. Drivers, however, aren't so keen about the idea.

"In the summer it's backed up as far as you can see, with two lanes during the summer for the beach people you know, so I just don't think it's gonna be a bad idea," said Steve Muzzi, of Hingham.

MassDOT says more than 30,000 people drive from the 3A rotary to Georgo Washington Boulevard in Hingham everyday. A report shows there were nearly 60 crashes along this stretch of road from 2008 to 2012.

"People do go incredibly fast here, there's been accidents, there's been at least one death here, so I don't think it's a good thing to try out," said Eric Gauthier, of Hingham. "Trying out is the right answer, not someone just deciding 'hey, we're gonna shrink the road first.'"

Hingham engineers say the timing of the test run is crucial.

"We want to test this at the worst times, so we know that's going to work during 4th of July, you know, high temperature beach days. everything like that," said Tom Molinari, assistant projects engineer for the town of Hingham.

If Higham does in fact go forward with this project, MassDOT will take over, and changes likely won't be made for another 4 or 5 years.

Cox Media Group