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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-29-WALKS-min Minutes of the public meeting on the question of installing a sidewalk on Roosevelt Rd. October 29th,2008 7:00pm-9:00pm Hastings Elementary School Gymnasium Hosted by Lexington Sidewalk Committee(SWC), Chair Jerry Van Hook Attended by SWC members: Laura Cecere, Judy Crocker, Susie Barrie,Francine Steiglitz and Margaret Lotz JVH began the meeting by stating that its purpose was to determine whether the community has, as a priority, a sidewalk on Roosevelt Rd as a safety measure for the students at Hastings. The SWC asked for an open public meeting because plans for a sidewalk on the south side of Roosevelt has met with opposition from potential abutters. JVH related that last summer [summer of 2007] the SWC had a number of discussions on which side of Roosevelt a sidewalk should be installed. Wayne Brooks said the south side was less complicated. Mr. Ham appeared before the October 6th 2008 SWC meeting at which he presented a petition against a sidewalk on the south side. Mr. Ham explained at the Oct. 6 SWC meeting that there were complications on the south side, and a number of reasons why the south side was a bad idea. JVH stated that this evening's discussion would be in two parts: first, arguments for or against a sidewalk; second, if a sidewalk were installed, which side. Rich Canale,Planning Board Liaison He is in favor of a sidewalk as presented by the SWC. When questioned by an audience member as to why,Rich stated that Lexington wanted to keep the streets as friendly as possible to pedestrians and bicyclists as well as cars and to encourage more walking. Audience member questioned why the south side that forced children to cross the base of Roosevelt? Michele Wilson,resident of Wilson Road She has seen cars driving through the do not enter signs where Crosby exits the school grounds and cars parked on both sides of the street. She feels it would be a waste of money to build a sidewalk because these other sources of confusion would remain. Rod Cole,member of the Lexington School Board and resident of School St. He stated that he walks his twin 3rd graders every morning to Hastings and made the following comments: Roosevelt is a heavily traveled road with parking on both sides that snow only causes to worsen. Also contributing to the traffic are people rushing off to work. It's a very dangerous situation. He added that as a School Committee member who has examined the demographics, he feels that Hastings is not closing as far as he is concerned. Even if Hastings were not closing,Roosevelt still needs a sidewalk because it's too dangerous. A sidewalk is simple, straightforward engineering that would help avoid the tragedy of a child getting hit. JVH asked Jane Kalinski, Safe Routes to School Chair at Hastings, whether she had any news pertaining to the possible closing of Hastings School. Jane said that she had an email from Dr. Ash, School Superintendent, which stated that the news of Hastings being closed was seriously distorted and further, even if it were to be closed,that was not a reason to prevent addressing the safety issue. [Jane placed a copy of this email on the sign-in table.] Dana Ham, resident of School St/Roosevelt Rd. and resident of the neighborhood for 43 years. He stated that he would like two things: an engineering document about the feasibility of a sidewalk on the south side of Roosevelt and courtesy. He said that in May 2007 he received a card in his mailbox notifying him of plans for a new sidewalk on the south side. He went to visit Mr. Manz and Mr. Cohen, in person,to discuss the issue and was not able to contact them and did not hear back from them. Sharon Kendall,previous Hastings PTA co-chair and resident of Deering Rd. asked Mr. Ham what he has against a sidewalk on Roosevelt and Mr. Ham stated that he was not against a sidewalk,just the side chosen for a sidewalk. Joe Lavins, 1.5 year resident of Ellison Rd. He asked where is the information from an independent outside source that a sidewalk on Roosevelt is needed? JVH stated that site visits on Roosevelt Rd have been taking place and will take place after tonight's meeting. He invited Mr. Lavins to a site visit the next day, Thursday, during afternoon school pick-up when the confluence of high car density and child pedestrians was highest. Dawn McDonough,resident of School St. She stated that there was no question that Roosevelt was dangerous for pedestrians, but that it was the parent drivers that made it so. She noted that there is a route, entirely by sidewalk, around School St to Mass Ave, across the intersection of Crosby and Mass Ave. and then down Crosby to Hastings,but that she had never personally taken that route. She added that it was her understanding that there is a general idea that there is no safe route to Hastings from School St.,but there is, as described above. It's the parents who are choosing the unsafe way. Jane Kalinski, in her capacity of Hastings Safe Routes to School Chair, stated that the SR2S program has three components: one is to promote walking, two is to promote safety and the third is to promote infrastructure improvement. In other words, if there is an obvious way to school,that children are already using, can its safety be improved by infrastructure? Roosevelt is just such a road and is a priority. Hastings School was built in 1955, not for 425 students and not for huge vehicular traffic. The current times have created the priority issue. Out of 425, only 100 take the bus; the rest walk, bike or are driven. Fifty families would be served by a sidewalk on Roosevelt,but the majority of 120-150 cars exiting the school go up Roosevelt. A sidewalk would separate the cars from the Hastings students, middle school students getting off the bus from Diamond, and dog walkers. Dawn McDonough asked why other measures weren't taken to make the road safe. Jane answered that the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee did not approve making Roosevelt a pedestrian way or making it one way during school drop-off and pick-up times. Tom Diaz, Town Meeting Member and School Board Member He stated that more sidewalks were on the School Board's agenda and that he was disposed for a sidewalk where ever the SWC deems it. He hears more evidence that a sidewalk is needed than not needed. He can not say exactly or specifically about the position of the School Committee on the proposed sidewalk,but that the School Committee is generally supportive of sidewalks. Justine Wirtenin, Town Meeting Member, previous resident of Ellison Rd and former Hastings parent She stated that she was in favor of a sidewalk. She couldn't believe that in 43 years there has never been a question of having a sidewalk on Roosevelt. She walked to Hastings with her children on a daily basis and felt that her family was very threatened by the traffic. Carin Casey,Hastings PTA co-chair She read a letter sent by the Hastings PTA executive committee in favor of a sidewalk on Roosevelt. [copy of letter attached to these minutes]. Final statements of letter: We have no reason to expect that the number of families who either walk or drive to and from Hastings will decrease in any significant number in the future. Addressing a major safety concern of both the school and neighborhood communities by building a sidewalk on Roosevelt Rd will be a huge benefit for all. Sharon Kendall presented a petition with 80 names in favor of a sidewalk on Roosevelt, no side mentioned specifically. In her opinion, based on 12 consecutive years as a Hastings parent, she has seen a lot more parents driving. In her opinion, it's safest to put children away from traffic. She started Hastings SR2S 4 years ago. SR2S meetings have always been open to every parent at Hastings with invitations in the Bulletin and PTA mailings. She wishes that more kids could walk to school alone. Madeline Pease, resident of Roosevelt/Wilson She moved into her home on the corner of Roosevelt and Wilson 4 years ago. When she moved in,the property had a driveway on it that acted as a sort of sidewalk. Kids, adults, adults with strollers and whole groups of pedestrians would use the driveway to get off of Roosevelt Rd. Her family removed the driveway. She observed the danger of walking in this area and that a tragedy was waiting to happen. Her famil have allowed the kids to walk on their property,but kids don't stay on the margin of the property along the road. She has contacted the SWC,Hastings' principals, and the police. She states that something is needed. Monica Grewal, resident of School St with driveway on Roosevelt She did not hear about this public meeting until Saturday or Monday. She stated that it was heinous that she hadn't heard before then. She has no issues with people walking on the grass between her fence and the road. Her complaint is that people need to be contacted earlier about public meetings. She stated that Roosevelt is not safe. There are other safety measures that could be taken. People shouldn't park on the street. She has also seen people running the stop signs and driving on Crosby the wrong way after the point at which it becomes one way [along the Hastings school grounds]. For that matter, Wilson and Ellison are not safe either, albeit there is more traffic on Roosevelt. In answer to Ms Grewal's point about the late notice of the meeting,JVH pointed out that the SWC pushed Wayne Brooks this past spring about a sidewalk on Roosevelt and that Wayne, in response, contacted the possible abutters on the south side of Roosevelt. JVH. asked Ms Grewal whether she was amenable to a sidewalk on the north side of Roosevelt, where her house is located. She mentioned the utility poles on the north side. JVH asked if the poles could be removed,would she object? NH noted that which ever side was chosen,the town would plow. Martha Batten, School System Representative on the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee She stated that she hasn't heard a single voice against a sidewalk. She is in the process of identifying streets with sidewalks that parents can use to drop kids off for school. What she understands from the discussion at this meeting is the only real concern is which side of Roosevelt to install sidewalk. Judy Crocker, Town-wide chair of the Safe Routes to School Program She stated that both she and Selectman Jeanne Kreiger are working on traffic mitigation around schools. Last year they invited PTA presidents to figure our ways of altering the new behavior of parents driving kids to school. PTA presidents would not touch it because they didn't want to approach parents since there were no viable, safe options to offer them. SRTS and the PTAs agree that parents are part of the problem,but the town needs to provide safe alternatives to driving. Dana Ham stated that he was never in opposition to a sidewalk,just not a sidewalk on the south side of Roosevelt that would cross 4 roads. He stated that crosswalks engender a false sense of security in children. He knows this from his years as a police officer. He feels that concerns about the ease of installation have taken a priority over the safety of children. WH brought up the point that students coming from Ellison would need to cross over Roosevelt to get to a sidewalk on the north side, and that the number of streets crossed by a pedestrian would depend on the direction from which they were coming. The second part of the discussion covered the topic of which side of Roosevelt is best for sidewalk installation. Ms Wilson questioned why a sidewalk could not be installed on the north side. Judy Crocker asked Wayne Brooks where the staging for the handicap ramp would be if the sidewalk was installed on the south side and Wayne answered that it would be on the Pease family side of the intersection. Wayne Brooks addressed the engineering aspects of north versus south side. The north side has the following obstructions: large tree, fire hydrant and utility poles. The south side has the following attractions: goes through side yards, has no obstructions. He also mentioned that he left his card in the south side resident's mailboxes to start the conversation about the possibility of a sidewalk. Dawn McDonough asked which side was safer and stated she felt that the north side was safer and that the town was sacrificing the safety of children for the ease of installation. Wayne Brooks stated that there is always consideration of ease of installation,but of course the safest alternative was best. Dawn McDonough questioned the exact expense of moving utility poles. She thought it would be about$5000 to move 3 utility poles. She asked for quotes and that research should be done into the exact cost. She felt that decisions were being made without any research. JVH reminded everyone that Wayne Brooks, of everyone present, knew the most about the cost of putting in sidewalks. Dawn McDonough asked again for an estimate. Wayne Brooks gave a ball park estimate that a south side sidewalk would cost$24,000. The north side was not as easy to estimate. First, permission from the Tree Committee would be needed to take down the tree. Then,Monica Grewel's family would have to take down their fence, as it is in the town's right of way. Then the utility poles and fire hydrant would have to be moved. Dana Ham stated that the process failed when the abutters were not notified. He questioned why TSAC wasn't notified about the crosswalk question and stated that the town should have sent a public meeting notice to him. He repeated that the sidewalk as proposed was in the wrong spot and unsafe for his and our children. JVH stated that according to the town manager, it's the SWC who should make the recommendation for a sidewalk on Roosevelt to the Board of Selectman. Wayne Brooks pointed out that if 20 houses abutted on the proposed sidewalk,then the town would have sent out notices,but since there were only 4 potential abutters, he went personally to the street to talk to the residents concerned. Madeline Pease noted that starting 3 years ago, she has been requesting the town to put in a sidewalk on her property. Jessie Stiegerwald,Hastings PTA co-chair and Town Meeting Member Jessie noted that both a north side and south side sidewalk would fall within the town's right of way. She suggested that to avoid a 3-5 year delay in installing a sidewalk on town property,the fact-finding process should be published in the Minute Man. JVH stated that the SWC would continue to have site visits along Roosevelt. Next Monday,the 3rd of November,the SWC would discuss the Roosevelt sidewalk issue again. If the SWC can't make a clear decision then,they can not give recommendation to the Selectman, The SWC is an advisory committee only, and the final decision rest with the Selectman. Jane Kalinski asked whether it was possible to decide to delay the discussion until Wayne Brooks gets more data on the putting a sidewalk in on the north side. Jerry felt the SWC had an obligation to the 80 petition signers to not delay or tarry. Jessie Stiegerwald asked Wayne Brooks if he could get the data ready by Monday? He stated that he was willing to try to get the data,but that he still needs to talk to the people on the north side. If they say no- then its back to the decision makers. Michele Wilson asked whether the 80 petition-signers know that kids would be crossing 3 streets? Jane Kalinski said that the petition simply requests that a sidewalk be installed on Roosevelt, no side was mentioned in the petition. Hank Manz, Selectman and resident of Ellison Rd He noted that the Selectman depend on the SWC to come forward with a resounding yes or no. He thought it sounded like there will not be enough time for a sound yes or no. The Selectmen expect any tie-breaking information would be presented by the police and TSAC. Laura Cecere, SWC member She asked why Roosevelt wasn't a one-way street and noticed during her site visits that the kids used the north side of the road. She feels a sidewalk is safer on the north side. NH brought up the point that delays in the process will push the final decision into the winter months when a sidewalk is need most. Dana Ham stated that TSAC governs signage and crosswalks. He talked to the police today. After viewing Roosevelt they said that for ease of installation the south side was best,but for safety,the north side was best. He also noted that we need to educate ourselves about traffic safety. He noted that many cars were parked along a yellow curb outside of Hastings that evening. Jane Kalinski stated that although the process of decision making about sidewalk was faulty, she knows that many towns put sidewalks in without asking the abutters.