Resident injured on street
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Emergency workers responded and treated an elderly Ashburnham resident. who was hit by a car and sustained non-life-threatening injuries on Central Street Monday. JOURNAL PHOTO/CAITLYN KELLEHER

An elderly Ashburnham resident was hit by a car and sustained non-life-threatening injuries shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon as he walked on Central Street between Sunnydale nursing home and the center of town.

Police Chief Loring Barrett said the matter is still under investigation and as of Tuesday afternoon no citations had been issued to the driver of the car, which struck the man.

It appears more than one factor caused the accident, including cars parked on the side of the road and a snow covered shoulder, Barrett said. He said the area around the center of town is congested and doesn't have sidewalks.

Fire and police responded to the accident scene and the victim was taken to Heywood Hospital in Gardner for treatment.

By 2:15 p.m. the Department of Public Work crews were on scene removing the snow from the shoulder of the road and the few sidewalks in the area.

"The drivers have to be aware, especially when you get closer to the center of town," Barrett said. "These roads weren't designed for the amount of traffic on them, pedestrian or vehicle traffic."

These problems are not unique to Ashburnham, but are something many small New England towns are dealing with especially in North Central Massachusetts, which was the fast growing area in the state during the early part of the decade.

The town does not currently have a bylaw that requires sidewalks be cleared and it would only come to the jurisdiction of the department if such a bylaw were enacted, Barrett said.

The police department's workload does increase in the winter with enforcement of the one winter specific town bylaw. As of Tuesday afternoon the department had issued 38 parking violations since November 15 when the winter parking ban went in to effect prohibiting parking on streets in the overnight hours, Barrett said. Most of those were issued in the Main Street area and center of town and most are probably officer initiated, he said.