Neighbors, I forward this so you will know what is going on at Walden/Richdale and Walden/Raymond (Marjorie Decker's typo of "Upland" is ironic, as we can get none of this attention for Upland). Keep in mind Walden also has a permanent truck ban... Anyway, I hope it all works. Ruth From: richdale-ave-community@googlegroups.com [mailto:richdale-ave-community@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of marjorie Decker Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 10:14 AM To: Richdale Ave Community Subject: [Richdale Ave] traffic/pedestrian updates for walden richdale and upland Dear Neighbors, I wanted to provide you an update regarding traffic flow and pedestrian safety for the intersections of Walden/Richdale and Walden and Upland. I met with the Police Commissioner, head of the police traffic enforcement, the City manager and the city's traffic engineer to discuss the interesections. Walden/Richdale I discovered at this meeting the delay for the painting of our Walden and Richdale cross walks was due to Mass Highway's delays. Mass Highway contracted out to a business that uses a specialized paint and finally scheduled them to paint out crosswalks. We discussed in our meeting and agreed on the following 1. Only three pedestrian walks would be painted. The reason to not paint the fourth-was to discourage pedestrians from crossing Walden on the bridge. Given the steep the incline over the bridge toward Richdale it was decided it was best not to chance cars rolling over the bridge and not stopping in time for the pedestrian walk. 2. The Stop signs on Walden will eventually be taken down and replaced with barrels at the crosswalk holding yellow signs that remind drivers of pedestrian right of way rules. Given, that I advocated for one of the stop signs on Walden, I was very reluctant to agree to this....until I listened to both the police and the city engineer lay out their concerns and logic. The primary reason for eventually removing the stop signs is to avoid a collision of cars who drive over the bridge from Mass Ave. The police spent several days observing the traffic patterns. Their conclusion is that cars coming over the bridge may not see other cars at the stop sign in time to fully stop--causing a rear end collision. To address the pedestrian safety issues this raises-it is believed along with the painted walks-the barrels will help yield the cars to pedestrians crossing. Everyone at the meeting (and I am sure many of you) agreed this is a tricky intersection--the combination of the bridge, a major cut through, and that the intersection itself is not a perfect square--all add up to the need use caution when crossing and driving. When the signs are taken down, unlike the last time, the police will be around to help guide cars and pedestrians through the transition. Walden/Upland For many of you who like to use the park and or tend the community garden; there has been deep concern regarding the removal of the traffic lights. As you know the city replaced the traffic lights with a raised walk in hopes of slowing traffic down. The following observations were based on the police, the city traffice engineer, the city manager and myself---all of us have stood at the corner and counted cars to see if the changes have improved the intersections. Cars are moving through the intersection more slowly but many continue to drive through the stop signs. In order to address the continued pedestrian safety issues the city is going to install a beta pedestrian cross light. This pedestrian cross light will be the second to be erected in the city. The first one is near the police station on Binney Street. This cross light will signal cars to stop when a pedestrian pushes the button. Since they removed the original light--I had been advocating for a pedestrian light. It was finally explained to me that the challenge of putting in a typical pedestrian cross light-would require a traffic light to be installed (again) The light would remain green until someone pushed the pedestrian light----A green light encourages car to drive quickly through the light-in hopes of avoiding the yellow and the red. The conclusion is that removing the lights has indeed slowed cars down--again, not making it perfectly safe--just safer. It is my hope that once the city installs the beta testing pedestrian light--we will have a more safer intersection--cars are slower and pedestrians have more tools to cross over to the park. A couple of footnotes-After city engineers reviewed a variety of other pedestrian lights (that have just come on the market) they decided to design their own--believing this will be even safer than what is offered. Commissioner Hass has been tremendously helpful and involved in trying to help us improved both of these intersections. Lastly, had the head of the City's traffic department taken the time to explain some of her decisions this probably would have been resolved much sooner. I realize some individuals might still feel frustrated or disappointed with some of the changes. I hope folks at least find some relief in knowing these issues are of great concerns to me and the city. It is a work in progress. Happy Rainy Day Marjorie Marjorie C. Decker Cambridge City Councillor mdecker@cambridgema.gov www.marjoriedecker.com 617-349-4276 (office) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Richdale Ave Community" group. To post to this group, send email to richdale-ave-community@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to richdale-ave-community+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/richdale-ave-community?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---