System crash

All in all, traffic stops for a total of two hours each day, and the end results, police say, are gridlock frequently extending through downtown and far too many accidents.

Their view is backed up by the state Department of Transportation’s Highway Division, which recently ranked the Framingham crossroads in third place on its Top 200 High Crash Intersection Locations Report.

“It’s a combination of collisions, congestion, and impact on town services,’’ said Lieutenant Paul Shastany, a Framingham police spokesman. “Clearly, 135 and 126, with 40-plus grade crossings, is the source of most of our problems in terms of traffic.’’

The MassHighway list, released last summer, was based on accident reports from 2005 to 2007 that were filed by drivers and police agencies with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Framingham has seven of the top 200 crash locations, the most among area communities. Several of the intersections are along busy Route 9, where it meets California Avenue, Temple Street, and Dinsmore Avenue.

In fact, Route 9’s stretch through the region is a hotbed of crashes, according to MassHighway, with intersections in Brookline, Wellesley, Natick, Westborough, and Shrewsbury also making the state’s list.

“These are roadways that are very old and have been expanded upon,’’ Shastany said. “It’s a path that’s evolved into a major highway’’ network.

The top 200 list includes 27 crossings in 13 area communities. Joining Framingham among the repeat offenders are Brookline, Natick, Concord, Plainville, Shrewsbury, and Watertown.

The report also cites the top locations for crashes involv ing pedestrians or bicycles for 2002 through 2007. The 126/135 intersection in Framingham is fourth on the pedestrian accident list with 24 crashes, including 21 with injuries. There were no fatalities.

The report states that the crash records provide a foundation for safety-improvement projects, helping officials evaluate locations and make changes to improve the state’s roadway system.

Adam Hurtubise, a MassHighway spokesman, said safety is the department’s top priority.

“Massachusetts has the safest highways in the nation, but we’re constantly looking for ways to improve safety,’’ he said. “This crash data gives us important information that we can analyze when we’re considering, designing, and building road and bridge projects.’’

In the two years since the accident figures were compiled, a number of area intersections, including locations in Framingham, Plainville, Shrewsbury and Natick, have seen safety upgrades.

The 126/135 intersection in Framingham is listed on a regional transportation plan for a fix-up, with town officials pondering ways to put traffic and trains on different grade levels, but the schedule has it down for funding in 2026.

Many intersections see accidents not because they are unsafe but because they are congested, police said, with too many cars and too little patience among drivers adding up to a recipe for fender-benders.

“It’s a matter of the congestion,’’ said Sergeant Marie Cleary, with the Wellesley Police Department. Her town hosts number 63 on the top 200 list, the high-traffic area around the Fire Department headquarters on Route 9 in Wellesley Hills, with Washington Street (Route 16) mere yards away.

“The majority of accidents are rear-end accidents that involve individuals following too closely,’’ she said.

Other area crossings making the list are routes 1 and 152 in Plainfield, and Route 20 and Curtis Avenue in Marlborough.

The Plainville intersection, at 18th, was changed within the past few years after a shopping plaza and racetrack went in nearby. Drivers can no longer take a left turn from Route 1 south directly onto 152, said Officer William McEvoy; instead, a lane was created to loop traffic to the right and onto 152 to the west of the intersection.

Despite several signs and green arrows pointing straight down Route 1, some drivers still stop in the intersection and cut across northbound traffic on Route 1, causing accidents, he said.

“They don’t pay attention,’’ McEvoy said. “The majority of people who turn there aren’t familiar with the area.’’

While the accidents there are often serious, there have been no fatalities recently, he said.

Plainville had a second intersection on the state list, with routes 106 and 152 at number 50, but the site has since been redone with left-turn lanes that have alleviated the problem, McEvoy said.

In Marlborough, the busy commercial area at Route 20 and Curtis Avenue adds to the intersection’s traffic woes, said Police Chief Mark Leonard. Route 20 has four travel lanes there, with cars constantly slowing and stopping along the way to turn.

“Sometimes what we do have is rear-end collisions when people are turning left into some businesses,’’ he said. “It’s a function of traffic turning in and out of businesses in that area. It’s highly traveled and congested.’’

Framingham police spokesman Shastany said several intersections along Route 9 in his town have similar problems. One of those, 40th on the crash list, is its meeting with California Avenue, where Route 9 is especially wide, he said, with a total of nine travel lanes.

“Frequently we have businesses, and people exit driveways and are rear-ended,’’ Shastany said. “It’s a tough area.’’

There’s also trouble where Route 9 has only four lanes, and merging can be difficult, Shastany said. Its intersection with Dinsmore Avenue, 136th on the list, is lined with businesses, including a HoneyBaked Ham store that is particularly busy around the holidays, he noted.

“It’s a two-lane road’’ in each direction, divided by a median, “and people expect they can drive it at the speed limit without interruption,’’ Shastany said. “It’s really not a highway.’’

Jennifer Fenn Lefferts can be reached at jflefferts@yahoo.com.