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Transportation

This section isn't very encyclopedic, but I think it's kind of nice to have. I have a few questions:

Anyone know when the lights in the Center started working? Additionally, I heard a shop in the center used to sell shirts and bumper stickers that read "I survived Chicken Corner." Any truth to this?

This definitely doesn't belong in the article, but anyone from Greater Lowell can appreciate this story: In high school, I went to Bishop Guertin High School, I used to get teased for being a Masshole. So, as punishment to the New Hampshire drivers, I made one of them drive me and a bunch of New Hamphire kids on a route through Chelmsford at rush hour I termed the Chelmsford Challenge. This was in 1999 or 2000, and very little of this makes any sense anymore:

I had them start up at Exit 34 in Tyngsboro, and drive into Vinal Square on Dustable Street - the one alongside the hardware store that requires you turn left onto the very end of route 40 (which usually is backed up quite a bit and nobody will let you in). Next, we took Princeton St to the Drum Hill Rotary, continuing down Route 4. Of course, getting on the rotary at rush hour was really hard back then, especially for people with maybe a year of driving experience from a state with many fewer rotaries. Next, I had them turn across Central Square, turning from 4 South onto 110 East, which of course is senseless because you'd really take Fletcher Street, but this was probably the hardest way across the center. Their responses at this point were priceless, but I wasn't done. Next, we turned onto Alpine Dr to go to the pizza place there, which requires a left back onto 110 at peak traffic time to leave. Finally, I made them get back on Route 3 North at the old 110 ramp, back when it was incredibly sharp, uphill, and about three car-lengths before it went back down onto 110 in the other direction. It's weird that that wasn't really that long ago, and Drum Hill, the Center, and Alpine Dr all have lights now. The 110 ramp is completely different and much safer today. Oh, the good old days.... CSZero 03:58, 29 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

laughing heartily at your

comments inre: Chelmsford Jackmcgann (talk) 02:48, 2 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation

Some towns (such as Billerica) have Wikipedia entries that give the accepted local pronunciation. I would have put in something for Chelmsford, but it's been over 30 years since I've been in the town for longer than it takes to get through Chicken Corner, so I no longer count as any kind of authority. Would someone who knows and cares, and who perhaps even has access to published research, please add a bit about how to pronounce the place. It's likely incorrect to limit the reader to a single pronunciation, since many seem to be in use. I've heard (or spoken, myself) at least all of the following:

Chelms-ford
Chelms-furred
Chems-furred
Chems-fudd
Chemsfuh

I personally prefer Chemsfudd. Snezzy 02:22, 15 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm a Chemzfid person myself. In my experience, the biggest issues with pronunciation of the town is pronouncing the 'Che' as in Chemestry, and over prononcing the l and r, giving something that approximates Kelmsferd. CSZero 15:11, 15 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sheesh. I've never heard Ke[l]mzfu[r]d. But Chemzfidd (or Tshemzfidd) might be right. Does anyone want to try to represent the various pronunciation possibilities in IPA? (I love IPA, but I can never remember it all, or even figure out how to get it to look right in the various browsers on various systems I might be using.) Is there any reason to worry about the vowels, or would Tshmzfdd be better? I think I've heard it spoken that way. Where's Ed Krasnecki now that I need him? Snezzy 23:23, 15 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My grandparents, who grew up in lowell, but have lived in Chelmsford 63+ years now pronounce it Chensfid —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.232.134.23 (talk) 05:22, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The 'Chemsfid' pronunciation and others with the /r/ dropped are examples of the Boston accent. Local news outlets pronounce Chelmsford as 'tʃɛlmsfərd' (Chelmsfurd) -- listen to reports here and here. Given those reliable sources, I've added /tʃɛlmsfərd/ to the article as the town's pronunciation. Chelmsfordian (talk) 02:25, 25 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Simpsons

I heard that the Simpsons show modeled it's streets based on the town of Chelmsford. Anyone know anything about this? Dough007 (talk) 03:38, 28 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's true to an extent: http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/community_info/chelmsford_history/simpsons.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by CSZero (talk • contribs) 03:54, 28 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Dough007 (talk) 04:15, 2 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]