Re: another close call
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Julian
Sep 28, 2012, 11:16:09 AM9/28/12
to roberta cameron, Team George Winthrop
Oh my god. I'm so sorry Roberta. That must have been really traumatic.
As I've been saying: every day this is left unsolved it's just like rolling the dice and hoping nothing bad happens. It's Inevitable though given enough time for a tragedy to occur.
We shouldn't be gambling with our children's lives.
Will think about this and try to write more soon.
On Sep 28, 2012, at 10:26 AM, roberta cameron <rcam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Watched my kids almost be hit by a car speeding up Winthrop Street yesterday, as they were walking home from a class at Tufts. I was waiting for them on Marshall Street, and saw them look both ways, but the car came up quickly from the direction they had looked first, and screeched to a halt just in time to avoid them.
>
> Whatever we can do to slow the traffic down already! I am glad that Tufts is helping the City to go forward with a traffic calming study, but I wonder why it requires so much studying before the City is prepared to do some engineering and construction? Do we know what the next step is after the VHB study?
>
> Meanwhile, any ideas for guerrilla street calming measures? Maybe a mural in the road? Or overhead banners across the road?
>
> -Roberta
As I've been saying: every day this is left unsolved it's just like rolling the dice and hoping nothing bad happens. It's Inevitable though given enough time for a tragedy to occur.
We shouldn't be gambling with our children's lives.
Will think about this and try to write more soon.
On Sep 28, 2012, at 10:26 AM, roberta cameron <rcam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Watched my kids almost be hit by a car speeding up Winthrop Street yesterday, as they were walking home from a class at Tufts. I was waiting for them on Marshall Street, and saw them look both ways, but the car came up quickly from the direction they had looked first, and screeched to a halt just in time to avoid them.
>
> Whatever we can do to slow the traffic down already! I am glad that Tufts is helping the City to go forward with a traffic calming study, but I wonder why it requires so much studying before the City is prepared to do some engineering and construction? Do we know what the next step is after the VHB study?
>
> Meanwhile, any ideas for guerrilla street calming measures? Maybe a mural in the road? Or overhead banners across the road?
>
> -Roberta
Julian Orbanes
Sep 28, 2012, 11:32:24 AM9/28/12
to roberta cameron, Team George Winthrop
Here are 5 thoughts off the top of my head:
1. Someone let the Mayor know that one of the children of a person
regularly attending our G+W meetings had a traumatic near miss.
2. Print up 20-40 durable signs (I, for one, would chip in for this),
and nail them high on all the telephone saying "SLOW DOWN FOR THE
CHILDREN!" - and try to get some permission to do so.
3. * Someone ask Tufts to accelerate their study in light of this -
even it means there needing to put in more $.
4. Just take the already allocated 40k and build 2 raised crosswalk -
one by the church - and one by g+w (both east-west) and then let the
tufts study work around those. I believe this was something like
option B - but I could look it up.
5. Ask the Mayor to get more $$ in the pipeline now in anticipation
of the Tufts study so when's it's ready it can be built faster.
* I personally was hoping last time we met w/ Tufts they would be
coming back with the study itself vs the schedule for it. Lol.
1. Someone let the Mayor know that one of the children of a person
regularly attending our G+W meetings had a traumatic near miss.
2. Print up 20-40 durable signs (I, for one, would chip in for this),
and nail them high on all the telephone saying "SLOW DOWN FOR THE
CHILDREN!" - and try to get some permission to do so.
3. * Someone ask Tufts to accelerate their study in light of this -
even it means there needing to put in more $.
4. Just take the already allocated 40k and build 2 raised crosswalk -
one by the church - and one by g+w (both east-west) and then let the
tufts study work around those. I believe this was something like
option B - but I could look it up.
5. Ask the Mayor to get more $$ in the pipeline now in anticipation
of the Tufts study so when's it's ready it can be built faster.
* I personally was hoping last time we met w/ Tufts they would be
coming back with the study itself vs the schedule for it. Lol.
Julian
Sep 28, 2012, 12:48:57 PM9/28/12
to roberta cameron, Team George Winthrop
The council(i forget the exact date but i could look it up) formally allocated $40k after our efforts late last year. It's just sitting there waiting to be used. The mayor said (and I have this in my notes if that helps) that $40k would pay for 2 raised crosswalks.
I just read the VHB contract you posted last month, and it looks like they are already set to begin this week, so I don't know if we can accelerate that any further. But that is only an alternatives analysis - like what we did, only with traffic data and more professional input. Hopefully it helps the City commit to implementation. But as far as I can tell the City does not have a plan or a timeline for its own next steps. The $40,000 was what they promised last year. Have they spent this? Can they add to it this year? Also, I wonder how many alternatives Somerville had to study before they constructed the crosswalks on Curtis Street or Willow before they drew up the designs to build them. I have put in a call to the Mayor and some City Councillors to ask them these questions, myself.
-Roberta
roberta cameron
Sep 28, 2012, 10:26:03 AM9/28/12
to Julian Orbanes, Team George Winthrop
roberta cameron
Sep 28, 2012, 2:55:19 PM9/28/12
to Julian, Team George Winthrop
I spoke with the Mayor's office and they said that they are waiting for the results of the Tufts study. Let's hope that the city will allocate the resources to implement whatever alternative the plan recommends.
Meanwhile, what if we got this and applied them ourselves to all the school and MBTA stops in the area?
http://www.seton.com/school-bus-stop-stencil-sp39.html
They will do custom signs too - we could add some "slow" signs to the street in each direction, or something like that. Cans of highway paint, 2-3 stencils - could we all chip in to put something on the ground?
-Roberta
Meanwhile, what if we got this and applied them ourselves to all the school and MBTA stops in the area?
http://www.seton.com/school-bus-stop-stencil-sp39.html
They will do custom signs too - we could add some "slow" signs to the street in each direction, or something like that. Cans of highway paint, 2-3 stencils - could we all chip in to put something on the ground?
-Roberta
roberta cameron
Sep 28, 2012, 11:53:53 AM9/28/12
to Julian Orbanes, Team George Winthrop
I just read the VHB contract you posted last month, and it looks like they are already set to begin this week, so I don't know if we can accelerate that any further. But that is only an alternatives analysis - like what we did, only with traffic data and more professional input. Hopefully it helps the City commit to implementation. But as far as I can tell the City does not have a plan or a timeline for its own next steps. The $40,000 was what they promised last year. Have they spent this? Can they add to it this year? Also, I wonder how many alternatives Somerville had to study before they constructed the crosswalks on Curtis Street or Willow before they drew up the designs to build them. I have put in a call to the Mayor and some City Councillors to ask them these questions, myself.
-Roberta
-Roberta
On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Julian Orbanes <julian....@gmail.com> wrote:
Julian
Sep 29, 2012, 10:41:42 AM9/29/12
to roberta cameron, Team George Winthrop
Ok so this is a pattern template to paint an icon on the street?
chris daveta
Sep 29, 2012, 8:31:38 PM9/29/12
to Team George Winthrop
There are many things the City could be doing to make the streets safer (even a tiny bit) but pedestrians are a second thought here unless some of the voting bloc - excuse me, the elderly population - start to complain.
One thing I have mentioned in front of the City Council is stencilling, and proper pavement markings. On my street alone, simple bike lane markings (on both sides, contraflow) could be easily implemented. Those markings would slow traffic somewhat (although I'm advocating for better and more significant changes).
I like the idea of doing it ourselves but it is illegal to put anything in the roadway. However, if it's a choice between that and safety then I guess the choice is rather clear.
Chris D'Aveta
West St
One thing I have mentioned in front of the City Council is stencilling, and proper pavement markings. On my street alone, simple bike lane markings (on both sides, contraflow) could be easily implemented. Those markings would slow traffic somewhat (although I'm advocating for better and more significant changes).
I like the idea of doing it ourselves but it is illegal to put anything in the roadway. However, if it's a choice between that and safety then I guess the choice is rather clear.
Chris D'Aveta
West St
Alexa Mase
Oct 1, 2012, 4:15:52 PM10/1/12
to chris daveta, Team George Winthrop
Wait.! Could people hold off on the self-implementation of signs and such? We worked very hard to have the good relationship we have with the Mayor/Tufts/City Council. I do not wish to jeopardize this at the moment. At least if people want to move forward with measures, may we at least take a vote? Otherwise, can you make it clear to the powers that Be that these potential actions (signs, road painting? ) are the acts of individuals, not the Team Medford group? Thanks. --
Alexa
Alexa
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