That confusing crosswalk traversing Washington Street in front of the former Blue Ginger restaurant has finally been covered over, months after we started asking questions about it (See: “Swellesley cracks the case of ‘The Crazy Wellesley Crosswalk'”). The black paint used to cover the white lines should fade over time and blend in with the rest of the road, making for a safer traffic situation.
The crosswalk was once for real, providing a temporary safe passage for pedestrians while the Belclare retail/condo complex was under construction and the sidewalk in front of it was inaccessible. But because the crosswalk was left there for months after the construction, pedestrians and drivers couldn’t figure out what to make of it — parking space lines on the Blue Ginger side made it look like people using the meters were parking in the middle of a crosswalk. Blue Ginger’s general manager had told us that customers were baffled by the situation, and often asked about it.
We failed to get a response from Belclare’s developer, but the town did say back in January that the developer and contractor and town were all working to resolve the issue. Here we are in September, and it looks like the case is now closed. Just in time for Belclare to start filling some of its retail space with tenants and for Smith & Wollensky to ready its new digs at the former Blue Ginger spot.
MORE: Pucker up Wellesley: Belclare has another new retail tenant
Leave a Reply