EAST LONGMEADOW – If there is one thing upon which most people who travel through East Longmeadow can agree, it is that Center Square, known as the rotary, is a complicated intersection. Located at the junction of seven streets, the rotary has the distinction of being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the country’s most dangerous intersection and featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not because there are so many roads and no street lights.

The complexity of the intersection often leads to confusion and consternation as it did on Jan.1 when resident Jonathan Varnet took to Facebook to state that unlike some parts of the rotary, the section in front of the businesses, Maureen’s Sweet Shoppe and Obsessions, is not marked as two lanes. He included an overhead map of the intersection.

“Notice the lack of white lines indicating two lanes, thus meaning there is only one lane there,” Varnet stated. An onslaught of over 80 comments followed, some agreeing with Varnet, while others championed the use of two lanes, whether or not the lines exist.

“I make it two lanes every time I go [through] the rotary. If you don’t, then you will sit there all day waiting for someone to go,” Ronnie Doe commented. “People don’t stop ever, coming out of Pleasant Street or Somers Road. Plus, if you don’t make it two lanes, then the whole rotary is backed up.”

Sgt. Daniel Bruno of the East Longmeadow Police Department said there are no official lane markings in the rotary to delineate one or two lanes.

“There are two lanes there, but it’s not official,” Bruno said. “It is my understanding that it is a suggestion.”

Bruno also noted that “part of the rotary, Route 83, is a state road and other rules apply.” Because of this, Center Square doesn’t function as a standard rotary, as in a normal rotary, drivers have the right of way. Instead, there are several yield signs in the rotary to allow for outside traffic to pass.

“It is very rare that we would cite someone for a lane violation, rather than failing to yield or failing to stop,” Bruno said. He said citations at the intersection are primarily for failure to yield.

East Longmeadow Public Works Superintendent Bruce Fenney offered further clarification on the lane issue.

 “It is actually a single lane, but it’s wide enough to take two vehicles for traffic flow,” Fenney told Reminder Publishing. He said, in his opinion, if you did mark out the lines on the asphalt it would be more confusing for people.

While there are no current plans to change the rotary, Bruno said making the Maple Street entrance to the intersection a single lane a few years ago has eliminated “a significant number” of accidents.

“In order to make it safer, you’d have to take land from the businesses there. You’d need more land,” Fenney said.