By Scott J. Croteau | scroteau@masslive.com

Say goodbye to Kelley Square. At least to the current form of it.

For decades people have pondered, questioned and surmised the best way to reconfigure the nerve-wracking vortex of traffic in the Canal District of Worcester.

Part of the city's plan to woo the Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester includes work with the state to give Kelley Square a complete makeover.

In an announcement about the Pawtucket Red Sox moving to Worcester Friday, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito revealed the stated would be contributing $35 million in infrastructure improvements in the city's Canal District as part of the deal.

"We are also going to move forward with an intersection project that we have long wanted to do as a commonwealth and that is the improvements to, yes, Kelley Square," Polito said.

The plans will also include the construction of a 350-space parking garage in the Canal District, where rapid development in the past few years has crunched parking options.

"It will serve the ballpark, but also the needs of the Canal District," Polito said.

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Kelley Square and Water Street are listed in the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's list of 2015 Top Crash Locations Report. It can be assumed this is the reason state officials would earmark the intersection for a change.

There are some caveats to the list. The report analyzes crashes from 2013 to 2015, taking into consideration not just the number of crashes, but the severity of those collisions and whether people were injured or if only property was damaged.

Some intersections in the report are listed as top crash locations, but may not be the highest amount of crashes in total.

Any changes to Kelley Square would need state involvement.

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In a previous interview with MassLive about the intersection, Worcester's public works commissioner Paul Moosey said the cost to reconfigure Kelley Square would exceed the city's capital budget, making the city taking the project on along unlikely.

Roundabouts, lane fixing, and other ideas have been discussed for decades, but none of those ideas ever came to fruition.

There were traffic lights in the 1970s, but the lights didn't last long because they caused traffic back-ups.

Details on how the intersection will be redesigned have yet to be laid out.

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Allen Fletcher, the man developing the $21 million Harding Green retail and housing complex in the heart of the Canal District, told MassLive prior to the announcement that in his opinion it is best to leave Kelley Square alone.

"Kelley Square is a minor miracle and it works remarkably well," Fletcher said. "I don't think anyone truly knows why it works because it is a very complex system."

Yes, the intricacies of the square can be mind-boggling for some drivers, but Fletcher said the knee-jerk reaction to fix should be squashed. As he put it, "Nobody knows how to fix it."

Getting through Kelley Square takes some interaction with other drivers to successfully navigate it.

Fletcher points out that drivers can get through the area pretty quickly compared to other areas in the city, such as Lincoln Square.

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Fletcher is concerned the Canal District could be bypassed by moving motorists quickly over to the stadium.

"I'm afraid they will come up with some configuration that will damage our part of town," he said.

Kelley Square does give the businesses in that area visibility, since it offers drivers and pedestrians a view of the Canal District.

Even with reports saying Kelley Square is dangerous, Fletcher believes it isn't.

Paying for detail officers on game days could be a simple solution, Fletcher said.

He heard traffic could be brought in from other streets as a way to bring drivers to the ballpark from the south, potentially alleviating pressure on Kelley Square.

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AP Photo

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