As someone who is relatively new to the vision impaired community I can see
both sides of this complicated issue. Westbrook's sidewalks are relatively
narrow and especially in the downtown district (with diners in the warmer
months and lack of adequate snow removal in winter) travel for the visually
impaired can be quite difficult. Add to that sidewalks that are in need of
repairs. The sidewalks which are intended for pedestrian travel are only
"safely" usable a few months out of the year.
This definitely warrants further discussion.
On Sat, Nov 27, 2021, 10:44 AM Dennis Marrotte <
dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Good Morning,
Yesterday, I sent a couple photos of the freestanding PEDESTRIAN CAUTION
Sign in the middle of Main Street at Dunn Street for the Main Street
Crosswalk.
The Sign is getting Beat Up . This Crosswalk was 1 of the 5 Main Street
Crosswalks selected for having Bollards and Delineators installed in 2020
for the Summer months. They were Not installed for this Year's Summertime.
The Thought has crossed my mind:
Picture that Yellow Pedestrian Sign as a Real Human Being aka "
PEDESTRIAN."
Thank You,
Dennis Marrotte
Vice Chair Core Committee Member
WSMAC
On Sat, Nov 27, 2021, 10:30 AM John Brooking <johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
That's discouraging to hear about Westbrook's reputation in the blindness
community. Though I'm not a lifelong resident, my impression is that much
of the problem stems from our Main Street being wider than it needs to be,
which encourages both speeding and passing stopped traffic on the right
without properly evaluating the situation. Then combine that with the fact
that the land topography around here, mainly the Stroudwater river, makes
us one of very few commuting routes between Portland and the bedroom
communities to the northwest like Gorham and Windham, so we get a lot of
through traffic.
Motorists are used to the world revolving around them, because roadway
design and priorities have done so for about 100 years now. Like fish not
being aware of water because it's all around them, most motorists don't
recognize how entitled they are because they're so used to it. It feels
normal to them.
On Sat, Nov 27, 2021 at 8:22 AM Carson Wood <carsonlwood@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Good Morning All.
One of the best examples of absolutely no forethought of
infrastructure other than motor vehicles is the Maine Mall area.
I’d thought the pandemic would change the beyond aggressive attitudes
of drivers.
By what I can tell, it is the opposite.
Many people I’ve spoken to in the blindness community consider
Westbrook not to be a safe community for pedestrian travel and will not
travel here.
*From:* wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On
Behalf Of *John Brooking
*Sent:* Friday, November 26, 2021 1:05 PM
*To:* wsmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [wsmac] Letter: Time to make streets safer
Letter to the Editor from the Portland Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory
Committee
Link:
https://www.pressherald.com/2021/11/26/maine-voices-the-time-is-now-to-make-portlands-streets-safer-more-vibrant-for-all/
Text below, in case you have trouble getting to the letter online.
------
*By John Clark and Winston Lumpkins IV*
*John Clark* is chair and *Winston Lumpkins IV* is vice chair of the
Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
In recent weeks, we have seen a wave
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/17/vehicle-hits-bicyclist-trying-to-cross-i-295-in-portland/?rel=related>
of crashes
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/07/bicyclist-injured-when-hit-by-vehicle-in-portland/?rel=related&rel=related>resulting
in serious injury
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/06/bicyclist-at-maine-med-with-life-threatening-injuries-after-being-hit-by-boat-trailer/?rel=related&rel=related>
or death
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/11/07/pedestrian-hit-and-killed-by-vehicle-in-portland/?rel=related>
to bicyclists and pedestrians in the Portland area. While the circumstances
surrounding these individual cases vary, we believe that the true fault
lies with the road infrastructure itself.
Whether we’re traveling by foot, bike or car, our roads are literally
killing us. Nationally since 2009, there has been a 51 percent
<https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/road-users/pedestrians/data-details/>
increase in pedestrian fatalities. The first six months of 2021 brought an
increase in U.S. traffic fatalities of more than 18 percent
<https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/usdot-releases-new-data-showing-road-fatalities-spiked-first-half-2021>,
compared to the same period a year before. These tragedies are preventable.
The time is now to redesign our streets to be safer and more compassionate
for all.
Most roads are designed for speeds much higher than the posted speed
limit. This creates conditions that make it too easy for people to drive
too fast. The tragedy is that engineers know how to design safer roads. The
solutions – such as reducing lane width by a foot – are often simple and
economical, but there must be the political will. Road design must
prioritize for the safety of all users above the ease of motorists to
travel at deadly speeds, which, when it comes to a pedestrian’s chances of
surviving having been struck, is above 25 mph
<https://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/05/31/3-graphs-that-explain-why-20-mph-should-be-the-limit-on-city-streets/>.
(This is not far below the most efficient speed to maximize the volume of
traffic flow.)
Fortunately, a consensus is emerging that we need to rebalance our
transportation systems away from this self-destructive dependence on
single-occupant vehicles and toward a far more diverse array of transport
options.
Locally, we can do our part by supporting local and regional investments
in safer infrastructure projects. There are some recent good examples: The
new
roundabout
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/29/portlands-first-traffic-roundabout-set-to-open-friday/?rel=related>
near the University of Southern Maine has calmed traffic and will be less
expensive to maintain over time. The new design
<https://verandaplan.org/> for the Interstate 295 off-ramp onto Veranda
Street not only provides a far safer “T” intersection, but also includes
bike lanes, crosswalks and a new waterfront park to boot. These are win-win
solutions that should be applauded, but we need to do more.
We don’t need to wait for huge and costly projects, however, to create
safer streets. At the intersection of Baxter Boulevard and Preble Street, a
“slip lane
<https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/13/cities-are-replacing-dangerous-slip-lanes-with-space-for-people/>”
has been removed, slowing cars as they turn onto Baxter and making the
pedestrian crossing much shorter, in addition to widening the Back Cove
Trail. While associated with a bigger project, this type of improvement can
be made quickly and easily with paint and traffic cones. Slowing cars in
residential areas can be done with low-cost temporary interventions, which
allows for testing of methods before spending millions of dollars on more
typical road projects.
The Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
<https://www.facebook.com/PortlandBikePed/> stands by to support our
City Council and mayor in meeting the needs of our community and creating
streets that are safer, more vibrant places to be.
We hope that the new council, voted in by an overwhelming desire for
equity, justice and fairness, will address the inequities present in the
current design of Portland’s streets. We can, and must, make our streets
safe for all regardless of their mode of transport, be it by foot, bike,
wheelchair, scooter or, indeed, by car, the people of Portland should have
the ability to get where they need to go without fearing for their lives.
The time is now to create a high-quality network of bicycle- and
pedestrian-friendly roadways, for equity, for the planet and for the safety
of all of us.
