Peabody bikeway markers idea gets thumbs up from dev board

PEABODY-Peabody?s Community Development staff seems to like the sound of City Councilor Ted Bettencourt?s bikeway safety motion.?Public safety is paramount to achieve a successful bikeway project,” a memo from Community Development to the Council said. “The addition of distance markers will complement other safety measures proposed.”Last month, Bettencourt suggested using a numbered system, similar to that used on state highways and rural roads, to serve as a way to identify certain points along the 4.6 mile wooded trail. He said that if people were to find themselves in an emergency situation, such as an asthma attack or perhaps a bicycle-related accident, they could reference the number system to help responders pinpoint their approximate location.?A concern I have is safety and, specifically the ability of police, fire, and ambulance vehicles to respond to medical or other emergencies,” he said to the City Council at the time. “Time being of the essence for any type of emergency, it is critical that our protective services have the ability to locate a citizen as quickly as possible.”Blair Haney, assistant director of planning, built upon Bettencourt?s idea by suggesting the markers be placed in regular intervals consistent with the existing emergency practice. He suggested putting markers every one-tenth of a mile (528 feet), equaling 46 markers throughout the path. No bikeway user would be more than 264 feet from any marker.Haney further explained that ideally, Community Development would like to see the markers painted directly on the asphalt path.?This is the most visible method and would be done in conjunction with a yellow centerline to be painted, as well,” wrote Haney. “The centerline is another safety feature proposed for the bikeway to designate directional ?lanes? for users.”The markers would be painted in white to stand out from and break apart the continuous yellow centerline.And, to step the level of safety up one more notch, Community Development will create a map of the bikeway that shows the location of each marker. The map will be distributed to the police department, fire department, and ambulance providers.