Dunster, Leverett Start Drive For Traffic Light

Two Houses have begun a movement to have a traffic signal placed at the corner of Memorial Drive and De Wolfe Street where a 27-year old man was killed by a car driven by M.I.T. student Friday night.

A petition with the names of over 200 Dunster residents will be handed to Governor Dever's assistant today. The petition will not go to Cambridge officials because Memorial Drive is administered by the Metropolitan District Commission, a state agency.

Dever's assistant, Orville Poland, has a son who lived in Dunster House before graduating in 1942.

Leverett House Committee Chairman Gwilym S. Brown '51 said last night that a petition similar to Dunster's will be placed in the Leverett dining room today.

Blinking Signal

Albion T. Sawyer, Jr. '53, who is handling the Dunster appeal, indicated that a blinking overhead caution light would be sought to slow down traffic at the intersection. "Cars speed up greatly between the traffic light at Eliot House and the one near the power plant and consequently do not notice the intersection," he explained.

Masters Gordon M. Fair of Dunster and Leigh Hoadley of Leverett show strong support of the proposed light. "This death is the second serious accident at the corner in the last two months," Hoadley said. On March 24 a pedestrian suffered a compound fracture when hit by a car. Hoadley added that there are "three or four bad accidents there each year."

Fair said, "The petition has my complete backing. Unfortunately, I have never had anything done about that corner in the past."