Promoting Walking to School and Work
The Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee, which meets the 4th Thursday of every month at the Carby Street town offices, has been reviewing many suggestions from residents and discussing ways to improve safety in town. Yesterday, I attended a meeting in Boston to apply for a grant program designed to promote clean air by encouraging alternatives to driving.
The video below describes one set of problems in town and an opportunity to better connect neighborhoods by improving the effectiveness of two crosswalks:
What we would like to see is a set of improvements including pushbutton-activated beacons, curb extensions/bump-outs, and distinctive painting of the crosswalks. The video below illustrates one company's product.
This is a preliminary application and the goal is to obtain federal funding so the only work required by the town would be to draw up the designs. At the meeting yesterday, we learned the Federal requirements of the program complicate things a bit, but hopefully, even if the grant is not approved, we will learn from this process how best to proceed on other creative ways to improve pedestrian and bike safety in town. More materials related to this are on the town website under the Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee publications page.
Comments
Seriously, all it takes is putting one foot in front of another.
I grew up in Westwood, and when I was six years old (and for several subsequent years) I and most of my classmates walked up to a mile to Pond Plain (now Sheehan) school. And, at the end of the school day, we walked all the way home too. We did this in all kinds of weather.
Even though we we were only kids, and lacked the technology and sophistication of today's fat and hyperactive children, we nevertheless were able to accomplish this nearly miraculous feat WITHOUT any of the of the following:
The Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee
a grant program designed to promote clean air by encouraging alternatives to driving.
pushbutton-activated beacons, curb extensions/bump-outs, and distinctive painting of the crosswalks
Federal requirements of the program
creative ways to improve pedestrian and bike safety in town.
Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee
I am somewhat confused by the comments made by the Former Westwood Pedestrian posted on May 16th. I’d like to suggest the following observations because I too walked to Pine Hill, now the Hanlon School for many years.
I think it is important when comparing the past with the present, we must all try to avoid over simplifying the identified issue and instead rely more on factual and concrete observations. The grass was always greener back then and sports heroes were God like! Unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case.
When I walked to school, not every home on my street had a car. Today it isn’t unusual to have 2 or 3 cars parked in a driveway or on the street.
When I walked to school, there was 1 traffic light in all of Westwood, and that was at East and Washington Street. Today, there are 8 traffic lights in Westwood!
It wasn’t until recently that a new term entered into the American lexicon, “Distracted Driving”. No one ever heard of it when I was a child and now a day doesn’t go by without it being mentioned in the media.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reporting nearly 6000 deaths in 2008 due to distracted driving. Texting while driving is dangerous. So why do many people still do it? I have seen the heart breaking grief and sorrow on too many occasions from mothers and fathers when their sons or daughters have been killed or seriously injured because their teenagers were victims of distracted driving while texting. The causes of those accidents are irrefutable. And by the same token, those distracted drivers pose not only a risk to themselves but to the hundreds of school children who walk to school every day.
Kudos to the Westwood Pedestrian and Bike safety Committee. I applaud them for their efforts and those members of the Westwood Police Dept. and Highway Dept. who are working with them on this very worthwhile and noble cause. Thank you to ALL for your hard work! jp
kudos to the committee
How long ago was this? How heavy was traffic? And why are you a "former" pedestrian?
Seriously, you make a great point. A commitment to a healthy lifestyle doesn't begin or end with committees, equipment or grants, it begins at the individual level. However, I think the operative word you are overlooking is "safety". As a 13-year resident of Islington and parent of two children in the middle school I can tell you, this town ain't made for walking. Just as an example, we live within a 1/4 mile of the Downey School but we have no sidewalks and my street provides access to the University Ave commuter station so morning traffic is heavy. Even if my kids were to walk to the end of my street safely, they would then have to face crossing Canton Street, another commuter thoroughfare without sidewalks. So for six years my kids were bused and for most of those I paid hundreds of dollars extra in bus fees. As a parent I found this extraordinarily frustrating.
I think the Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee is most welcome and way overdue. The changes it proposes will take time and money, money that in all likelihood will never come from our local tax revenues. So kudos to the committee and it's members for taking the lead in identifying federal and state programs that can help pay for infrastructure development. This is truly a step in the right direction.