GILL — The town is installing a 98-foot-long guardrail after a vehicle crashed into a home at 253 Main Road on Sunday.

Homeowner Tracy Dowd told the Selectboard on Monday that her home sustained heavy damage from the crash that impacted the westernmost side of the structure. She mentioned the foundation is cracked, the structure shifted, and the load-bearing support beams inside the home are cracked up into the attic.

One “silver lining,” she pointed out, was the robust build of the 1800s home. A cost estimate to repair the damage is still under review.

Dowd told the Selectboard she was concerned about a crash happening even before Sunday, given her home’s proximity to the roadway and a lack of guardrails.

“I sit right where the car hit. I work from home and I watch cars almost do that every day,” she said. “I’ve thought about what could happen here, not just the safety of my house … [but] also the drivers, because people are missing that corner a lot.”

According to Gill Police Chief Christopher Redmond, the crash occurred just before 5 p.m. on Sunday. A 2010 Hyundai Sonata was traveling east on Main Road and crashed into the side of the home at 253 Main Road. The Gill Police and Fire departments responded.

The driver and one passenger were evaluated by Northfield EMS and transported to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. No one was inside the home at the time of the crash.

Redmond said the cause of the crash is unknown at this time and no criminal charges have been filed.

Prior to the meeting, Dowd and Highway Superintendent John Miner spoke about buying and installing a guardrail. Miner told the Selectboard that the quote to purchase the 98-foot-long guardrail from Guardrail Solutions LLC of West Springfield is $3,365. The guardrail would be installed just west of the home from a catch basin to the property’s mailbox. Miner said there isn’t an exact timeline for the guardrail installation, as previous purchases haven’t come in for a few months.

According to the state Department of Transportation, crash data from 2019 to 2021 on the top 5% of crash clusters in town shows a cluster of crashes occurring at the French King Highway and Main Road intersection, but no data indicates a crash cluster near 253 Main Road.

Still, Dowd reported witnessing near misses by drivers at this location and she believes the guardrail could be beneficial in the future.

“It could have been so much worse,” Dowd told the Selectboard. “But then I sit there and I’m looking at it, and I’m like, ‘This is a numbers game here. This is going to happen again.’ But if there’s a guardrail, it would definitely do something.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.