The Board of Public Works shared a couple of updates this month on traffic safety-related issues (see Wellesley Media recording about 17 minutes in to the Jan. 21 meeting).
Department of Public Works Director David Cohen updated the board on a review of Longfellow Road, where a dog was struck and killed by vehicle in October and the family later launched a campaign called “Petey’s Promise” urging safer driving. Longfellow Road is in Poet’s Corner and links Routes 16 and 9.
The police collected data on speed, and found most drivers actually don’t drive too fast on the long straight road, Cohen said. Still, the police will be mindful of conducting speed enforcement there, and sometimes deploy speed feedback trailers, he said.
The DPW is adding Longfellow to its Complete Streets list for consideration to do roadway reconfiguration and sidewalk work.
Separately, Board Chair Jeff Wechsler cited a couple of funky street safety issues he has come across lately. One includes the crosswalk blinking lights at the Wellesley Hills Train station that sometimes continue to blink even when no one is near the crosswalk (we’ve seen this, too). The concern of course here is that false positives on the crosswalk blinker could desensitize drivers who travel that stretch regularly. Wechsler also cited a problem with the crossing sign at Cliff Road and Washington Street that will show both the “walk” and “don’t walk” picture simultaneously.
Cohen used this as a reminder that the town has a new email address, trafficsafety@wellesleyma.gov, that people can use to report such problems.
(The one that continues to bug us is the phantom crosswalk on Washington Street near Smith & Wollensky. It was once a temporary crosswalk and the remnants of those markings that remain visible could still lead some to try using it. Whenever I drive through it I always pause to make sure no one is going to spring out from behind a parked car.)
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I believe Cohen’s comments are misleading. The unposted speed limit is 30 mph. This may not sound very fast, but it is when it’s in a residential area (and on a road like Longfellow).
Speeding and distracted driving are prevalent throughout town, as there are seemingly no repercussions. There is also a lack of consistency for pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross roadways. Example: The Brook Path has about 8 different crosswalk mechanisms from the start around Green’s Hardware to the end at Nehoiden golf course. It’s ridiculous.