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REVIEW OF THE MEETING BETWEEN THE TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE AND THE EXECUTIVE
BOARD OF THE NORTH LEXINGTON ASSOCIATION -- 4 NOVEMBER 1976
Those present from the Traffic Safety Committee
Kay Menand, Ken Briggs, John McSweeney, Peter Chalpin
Those present from The North Lexington Association
• Richard Sullivan, Jennie Oberholtzer, Iris Wheaton, Betty Lochridge,
Leo Grace, Marilyn Fitzmaurice, Joan Sullivan, John F-•ankovich, Agnes
Cavigelli, Claire Gordon
Others present
William Terris, Howard Kassler
The meeting began with an explanation (by John McSweeney) of the role
played by the Traffic Safety Committee He stressed they are an Advisory Committee
to the Selectmen and not a regulatory boa.. While some traffic safety factors are
under the jurisdiction of the town, others must be approved by State Public Works,
Registry of Motor Vehicles, etc Referring to the list sent to the Committee, items
were taken up individually
I. IMMEDIATE RECOMMENDATIONS Nee
1 A centerline of two solid lines painted on Grove St from Bedford town line
to Burlington St41,4
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Only one solid line is deemed feasible Double line implies "safety ®�
passing" permitted at some point along the roadway Also has to dq with
line of sight, alignment, dips, etc Single yellow line will be maintained
2 A centerline of two solid lines painted on Eldred St for the entire distance.
Not feasible for reasons stated above However, a single solid yellow
line will be painted on the street
3 Side (or edge) lines to b'e painted on both streets
North Lexington members explained they felt that .these lines would, create
an illusion of a more narrow road especially in conjunction with the center-
line This would encourage drivers to slow down. Appeared the TSC agreed,
however, they felt it would be a new program for the town .and further
approval would be necessary before implementation (Lines of this type
are currently on East St and have helped slow down traffic, according to
McSweeney They were put in with Chapter 90 funding. ) Although the cost
of the job would be approximately $50 (top of head estimate), McSweeney felt
that a "gift to the tbwn" of this money to cover the cost would be cumbersome
as money so donated goes directly into the general funds (Later thought
Could something like "Estate Trusts" currently available in town for a
specific purpose be a way to swell town's coffers to handle this? Most of
current ones have a specific purpose stated like beautification of a certain
area---why not safety?)
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4. Crosswalks along Eldred Street (at each intersection listed) and Grove
St (several intersections listed)
All crosswalks will be painted Normal procedure is for the two
boundary lines - no interior color Discussion concerning crosswalk
at Bedford/Eldred St Terris concerned children might use it to
cross over on way to school instead of crosswalk at Ivan St. This
was felt to be an educational problem to be handled by families con-
cerned. Crosswalk at that point would assist others
5 A stop sign on Eldred at Grove St.
This is possible and will be installed
6 and 7 Pertained to better education program in school and possibility of
utilizing older children as auxilliary guards
It was felt the job of educating the children about safe crossing
procedures would be made easier when the crosswalks, centerlines
and edge lines are painted
II. INVESTIGATE
1 Flashing school zone light
McSweeney felt I that Estabrook School would most likely fit in the
warrants required for such lights Applications would have to be made
if Committee approved through the Board of Selectmen. He also cautioned
that sometimes when such lights had been installed in some areas (outside
of Lexington) the crossing guard was eliminated North Lexington members
stated they felt the crossing guard was important and lights should be
in addition to crossing guard not instead of crossing guard If lights
are applied for, it should be remembered that we do not want the crossing
guard eliminated (There are - or at least were state funds available
for such lights Bedford and Chelmsford are two of the towns that applied
for and received state funding for this type of lights)
2 Narrowing the junction at Eldred/Grove Sts
John Frankovich, who had made measurements at this area, related how much
longer the current crosswalk is in conjunction to the overall width of
Eldred Street; and, because the street flares out so widely at this corner,
many vehicles whip around it without even slowing down. Peter Chalpin will
investigate narrowing the radius of the turn here He is currently looking
into increasing the radius of curve at Eldred/Bedford Sts in order to make
turning onto Bedford St easier
3 Placing "speed bumps" in the street
According to McSweeney they are illegal in Massachusetts Also cause some
danger to bicycles, motorcycles as well as vehicles such as fire engines
He referred to a study done in San Jose, California which he agreed to
forward to us to read
4 Flashing lights over the crosswalks
Felt not possible Actually not important item if other items are forthcoming.
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5 Lowering the speedlimit on Grove and Eldred Streets
Speed limit set by the state Monitorvn; done by the state Although
Grove Street (actually Page Rd )in Bedford is posted 25 mph, McSweeney
felt that 30 mph was basically the lowest speedlimit approved now He
felt that speeding was an enforcement problem. No change anticipated
6 Need for additional crosswalks along any other streets that join Grove St.
They will be placed at areas where streets intersect Grove St Peter
Chaloin will investigate such areas
7 Paint brilliant crosswalks and re-investigate the possibility of traffic light
at Bedford/Eldred Sts
The requests for a signal at Bedford/Eldred St will be re-activated
North Lexington stressed the hope that the response would not be the
same as last time; i e , a 6-lane divided highway McSweeney felt
States main objection to light was the back-up of traffic onto 128.
North Lexington offered support to TSC and town in an endeavor to see if
we can get light McSweeney said town could not paint this crosswalk
across Bedford St. because it was a stat, road. It was questioned if
a strong point could be made for a light there because of the lack of
protection afforded a pedestrian h t ,- State when the pedestrian needed
to cross the street in order to reach public transportation. Requests
for action here go all the way to Secretary Salvucci