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Mark Jewell submitting comments re: #200639, a raised crosswalk at the West Somerville Neighborhood School.
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To the Honorable Board:
My wife and I are parents of a WSNS third-grader and a first-grader; we walk to school daily from our home at 64 Hooker Avenue, first crossing Broadway at Farragut Avenue (site of a dangerous crosswalk that, thankfully, has new safety signage as of a couple weeks ago!) and then Powderhouse Boulevard directly in front of the school.
At both crossings, my family has had many close calls, in some cases with cars traveling at fairly high speed, in others with cars that were backed up bumper-to-bumper, obscuring in-the-crosswalk pedestrians from the view of drivers traveling in the opposite direction. The rising sun in the low horizon creates an additional risk at certain times of year, making it hard for eastbound drivers to see anything.
If there is any location where additional traffic-calming measures are needed, it is directly in front of WSNS. I believe a raised-surface crosswalk, possibly coupled with a bump-out of the sidewalk at the location of the crosswalk and further signage or lighting, could vastly improve the level of safety provided by the existing crossing guard.
Powderhouse in front of WSNS and Broadway/Farragut share common issues: they're on a slight grade and not immediately near a stoplight. Vehicles pick up speed between lights going up/down hill, traveling at unsafe speeds given the high density and presence of many pedestrians as well as bicyclists. (two months ago I witnessed a cyclist struck and injured by a motorist who made a right turn into the side of the cyclist, who had been traveling the same direction). Anything that could be promptly done to calm traffic would be greatly appreciated by my family.
Thank you for your service to Somerville!
Mark Jewell