Reported by us | Taunton

Floral Street in Taunton turns one way Nov. 9, with a four-way stop at Cherry Street

The change takes Floral Street out of the Winter and School streets junction while a traffic signal planned there works through state review. Most neighbors who spoke at the first committee meeting raised speeding.

By the SC360 Town Hall Desk | Published Oct. 30, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 30, 2026, 7:30 a.m. ET

TAUNTON Starting Monday, Nov. 9, Floral Street in Taunton becomes a one-way street, with traffic allowed only from Winter Street toward Cherry Street, and the corner of Floral and Cherry streets becomes a four-way stop. The city has asked drivers to use caution, watch for the new signs and follow the updated traffic pattern.

Once the change takes effect, drivers on Floral Street will no longer be able to come out onto Winter Street. They can turn onto Floral from Winter and leave it at Cherry Street. The City Council ordained both changes on Tuesday, Sept. 8, on two roll call votes of 8-0, with Councilor Scott Martin absent, according to the council's minutes.

Why the city made the change

Police and public works officials told councilors at three committee meetings that the junction of Winter and School streets, where Floral Street comes in at a sharp angle, keeps producing crashes. On June 16, Taunton police Sgt. Matthew Teixeira told the Committee on Ordinances and Enrolled Bills there were 19 crashes there in 2025 and 12 so far in 2026, four of them in the previous three weeks, the committee minutes show. On July 14 he reported 24 crashes in the year from July 2025 to July 2026, half of them since January.

The long-term fix is a traffic signal at Winter and School streets. Public Works Commissioner Michael Patneaude told the committee in June that it is an estimated $2.5 million project on the transportation improvement program, that the process began in November 2023 and that the city had just sent a pre-25% design to MassDOT, with construction realistically in the 2027 or 2028 program year. In July he said a signal is at least three years away.

Patneaude said a new stop line on Winter Street will sit very close to Floral Street once the signal is built, which is why the city wants Floral traffic out of the intersection now. He said the change was recommended by a road safety audit and would fit the signal design. In the meantime the city replaced the signs, added flashing stop signs on School Street and warnings that cross traffic does not stop, and repainted the pavement markings, Patneaude and Police Safety Officer Arsenio Chaves told the committee.

What neighbors said

The plan met resistance when the committee first took it up April 7. Six residents spoke, four of them from Floral Street, and most of them raised speeding, according to the minutes. Two said a one-way street would only make drivers go faster, and another asked the city not to send more traffic onto Cherry Street, which she called very narrow. Councilors raised other ideas, including a right turn only from Floral onto Winter Street and a one-way limited to peak hours. Councilor John McCaul, the committee chairman, suggested tabling the item, and the group agreed to come back in about a month.

When it returned June 16, Officer Chaves reported a speed count in the area from April 19 to April 26 that clocked 1,808 vehicles at an average of 26 mph, under the 30 mph limit. Patneaude said a raised island to force right turns would not fit and a painted one would not stop drivers from turning left. He, Officer Chaves and Sgt. Teixeira all recommended the one-way, and Officer Chaves said a right turn only would not solve the problem. Councilor Edward Correira asked that neighbors be told before any decision, and the committee voted to notify residents from Floral Street to Cherry Street, including Whitsborough Street, and meet again in a month.

At the July 14 meeting a Whitsborough Street resident pressed for a four-way stop at Floral and Cherry streets, and a neighbor's letter asked for stop signs on Oakland Avenue and Whitsborough Street if Floral became one way. Councilor Deborah Carr said she supported a four-way stop at Cherry Street with added signs. Councilor Phillip Duarte backed the one-way on the condition that Floral and Cherry become a four-way stop, and Councilor David Chaves said the change would be inconvenient but could save someone's life. The committee voted to have the public works commissioner and the safety officer make Floral Street one way from Winter Street to Cherry Street, install the four-way stop, update the striping, consider advance signs like those used on Washington Street and send the ordinance to the Law Department.

What drivers need to know

From Monday, Nov. 9, Floral Street is one way from Winter Street to Cherry Street.
Drivers can turn onto Floral from Winter Street but can no longer leave Floral onto Winter Street.
Stop signs go up on Floral Street and on Cherry Street in both directions where they meet, making it a four-way stop.
The traffic signal planned for Winter and School streets is still in design, with construction expected in the 2027 or 2028 program year.

The same night, also on an 8-0 roll call, the council barred trucks heavier than 10,000 pounds, including tractor trailers, from Norton Avenue between Harvey Street and Route 140 (Tremont Street) and from Crane Avenue South. Patneaude told the committee in July that the state had approved those exclusions and that an ordinance was the last step.

Residents with questions about the changes can call Taunton City Hall at 508-821-1000.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from the City of Taunton's Floral Street traffic notice and the Taunton City Council's minutes and committee minutes of April 7, June 16, July 14, July 21 and Sept. 8, plus its Aug. 18 and Aug. 31 agendas. We read them on Oct. 30, checked the two Sept. 8 roll calls against the councilors present, checked the crash and cost figures against the minutes pages, and checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Officials' statements are as the minutes summarize them, not word for word. Residents who spoke at the meetings are not named.

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