Because Western Massachusetts is such an economically depressed area, UMass students are the cash cows for every town surrounding Amherst. Each town has set up speed traps to collect their share of the money from drivers on their way to and from UMass.
Most students will drive to the University traveling west on the Massachusetts Turnpike, and then driving north on Route 91, getting off at Exit 19 in Hadley, and traveling back east on Route 9 across Hadley, finally going north on Route 116 and onto the UMass campus. Following this route, you will always be at risk of being ticketed and possibly arrested in one of the many police jurisdictions that you will drive through. But as bad as it may be, the route above is the safest way to get to UMass.
The advantage of this route is that the Massachusetts Turnpike makes its money from tolls and so has less of an agenda to over patrol the highway and earn income from ticketing speeders.
Driving north on Route 91 you need to start being very careful. Near the intersection of the Massachusetts Turnpike the cities of Holyoke and Chicopee both have speed traps set up on this stretch of Route 91 between Springfield and Hadley. But what is more important to know is that the city of Springfield Massachusetts is a slum. After its manufacturing went overseas, and after everyone who could afford to moved away, the property values in Springfield collapsed and those who were left fell into predictable desperation and drug trafficking. For this reason Route 91 is over patrolled in an attempt to prevent illegal drugs from reaching Amherst. However, the attempts by the police to stop this flow of drugs to Amherst are not always successful. In the last years that I was in Amherst, there were reports of heroin abuse in the Amherst Regional High School were increasing.
Driving across Route 9 in Hadley is fairly safe. Like the Mass Pike, Hadley has the motivation of promoting commercial enterprise along this road as much as possible, not raising money through moving violations. Route 9 may be slow driving at times due to the traffic into and out of the commercial outlets, and the traffic from UMass, but this road doesn’t have as much active police presence.
The one mile connector of Route 116 is fairly safe to travel on, but once you are on the UMass campus be very careful. The entire University campus at Amherst is listed as being on the Massachusetts registry of speed traps. Specifically, be very careful on University Drive between Massachusetts Avenue and Amity Street. This stretch is known by Amherst residents as “The Gauntlet.” Every year, despite my warnings, I had tenants who were ticketed and arrested along this stretch. Just think of this road as permanently closed to motorists. My advice is to avoid it.
Approaching or leaving Amherst from the North along route 116 is fairly safe, but do not take State Route 63 through Leverett Massachusetts. The town of Leverett has a speed trap set up on a stretch of road that the local people call “The Flats.” All of Route 63 has a 55 mile an hour speed limit, except for one poorly marked 0.92 mile stretch in Leverett where the speed limit drops to 45 miles an hour. During the time that I lived in Amherst, I unsuccessfully tried to have this speed trap eliminated. After years of work I only succeeded in having additional speed limit signs put up along this stretch of road. Predictably, by the time that I left Amherst, these speed limit signs were either taken down or obscured. My recommendation is to not drive on Route 63 in Leverett Massachusetts. The meaning of the word “leveret” is a young hare. I say, avoid the avoid the white rabbit!
If you are traveling from points east to the University, it may look like it would save you time to get off the Mass Pike in Palmer and take Routes 181 and 9 up into Amherst, cutting off the corner at the intersection of Routes 90 and 91. The problem is that there is an interesting kind of trap on this route. You need to hand it to the ingenuity of the Belchertown police to have figured this one out. Unlike Leverett, which has a natural place to set up a speed trap, the place you are likely to get ticketed is on Route 181 between Bondsville and Belchertown. The ticket you are likely to receive is an out-of-lane violation. The way you will receive this ticket is that the police will follow closely behind you as soon as you exit Bondsville onto Route 181. And they will stay with you right up to Route 9 in Amherst. Because the police will drive so closely, you will not feel like you have the option of reducing your speed, however staying between the lines at the posted speed limit can be very challenging on this winding stretch of road. If your tires hit the center line at any time you will be pulled over for an out of lane violation. Even if the roads are dry and you are well rested, having a policeman follow you along this entire route is a nerveracking experience. This shortcut from Palmer to Amherst is not worth the risk. Do not make this mistake. Stay on Route 90 to Route 91 every time you travel from the Boston area to Amherst.
If you have made it as far as Amherst, there is only one safe route to and from 143 Fearing Street. Either from the east or the west, travel along Route 9 and then turn onto Lincoln Avenue. On this route you will cross Amity Street on your way to making a left hand turn on Fearing Street. Most of the time the police to set up a speed trap on Lincoln Avenue, however there have been times when Lincoln Avenue residents have had the police over patrol this road. When I was in Amherst, there were students that had an ongoing protest against the speed trap on Lincoln Avenue. As I understood it, there were students who would lean on their horn all the way from Amity Street down to the University at all hours of the day and night. I do not know what the outcome of this protest was, but I am sure that it did not make these residents happy.
Once you have made it to Amherst, I recommend driving as little as possible. If you do need to drive, travel only at night and only on the select few roads that I have recommended. If you drive in Amherst long enough you will inevitably get ticketed. Every grandmother in Amherst will tell you stories about the multiple moving violations that they have received.
In Amherst, your other options are to take the bus, ride your bike, or walk. Unfortunately none of these three options are very good.
When school is in session the local busses are frequent and free. However during the summer these busses have reduced hours
If you are in good physical condition the next option is to ride your bike. 143 Fearing Street is a good location to start riding from. It is only one block from campus and two blocks from the bike path, but there are things you should know. Do not park a quality bicycle on the UMass campus. In the years that I lived in Amherst I heard many stories of students having their locks cut and their bikes stolen at UMass. For people who do ride to UMass, the low quality bikes they use are referred to as “campus cruisers.”
If you choose to take the bike path, in theory you could ride from Fearing Street all the way to Northampton in one direction, or all the way to Belchertown in the other. The problem is that the bike path has barely been maintained since it was built twenty years ago. There are now sections that have so many frost heaves that the path is really only passable on a mountain bike. It was a good idea to build the bike path, but like everything else in Amherst, it is deteriorating.
Finally, if you are in Amherst it is fairly safe to walk during the day. At one time, the town of Amherst decided to turn off streetlights on other than the main roads in an effort to save money. In response, there were women’s groups that held “Take back the night” marches in Amherst. After those protests, the town turned back on the street lights on most secondary streets. However as I have discussed, since there is no longer a grocery store in Amherst it is a long walk to Hadley to buy food.