SWAMPSCOTT — Improving pedestrian safety at St. John the Evangelist Church on Humphrey Street, where there have been numerous accidents, is one of three new traffic and parking recommendations that will be implemented after Board of Selectmen approval.
The recommendations from the Traffic Study Advisory Committee included a “no parking” restriction near a crosswalk on Nason Road, a “caution” sign with flashing lights on Burpee Road, and a speed table in front of St. John the Evangelist Church on Humphrey Street.
Pedestrian safety near St. John’s has been the focus recently for town officials and police after a 93-year-old man was critically injured when he was hit by a car while crossing the street shortly after 7:30 a.m. in November. Officials and police cite the early morning solar glare as a major issue in that area.
The accident occurred almost exactly a year after John Lofgren, 73, of Lynn, was killed crossing in front of the church at 174 Humphrey St. Lofgren was in the crosswalk when he was struck by a car on Dec. 3, 2016 shortly after 7:30 a.m.
Police said there have been numerous accidents along that area of Humphrey Street, with several occurring around sunrise.
“We’ve done a number of different improvements, changes to this particular crosswalk and still we’ve had issues where pedestrians have been in accidents,” said Peter Kane, director of community development. “The primary reason for those accidents is the time of those accidents is during solar glare events when the sun happens to be rising at just the right alignment of the traffic and it’s just between the months of November and January.”
The recommendation from the traffic committee and approved by the selectmen is to convert the crosswalk into a speed table, which levels out the crossing so there are no longer ramps.
Kane said the speed table creates a different change in the elevation, with an edge along both sides where the town can paint in lines so drivers can easily see reflected paint, showing a change in the pavement.
“We would have signs on either side up the approach for this warning that there is a speed table,” Kane said. “Speed tables are intended for both the pedestrian safety, but also causes the vehicle to have to go slower.”
Kane said installation would have to wait, and would be weather dependent. He said the town would also have to allocate funds for the speed table, which would be for more asphalt and a few signs.
“As a pedestrian, I like it,” said Naomi Dreeben, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen. “You don’t have to step down off the curb and back up, so it’s much more accessible and it’s enough to slow people down in a place where we have a lot of pedestrian crossing.”
Kane said improvements made by the town in the past have included sidewalk bump outs so pedestrians have a shorter crossing distance, colored/stamped asphalt to change the visual treatment of the crosswalk, and placing a pedestrian yield sign in the center of the roadway.
A recent change has been to place a flashing pedestrian sign on either side of the crosswalk, which will be installed depending on the weather, Kane said.
The “no parking” restriction near a crosswalk on Nason Road was based on a request by one of the residents, who stated that there were issues with the crosswalk across Nason Road at the Orchard Road intersection.
“The issue is that during school drop-off and pick-up, a lot of parents are parking close to the crosswalk, making it difficult for drivers to see pedestrians, primarily school children, when they’re trying to cross that particular crosswalk,” Kane said.
The committee’s recommendation, which was approved by the selectmen, was to restrict up to 36 feet from that crosswalk, which is about two car lengths.
“That area really isn’t used for on-street parking during normal hours,” Kane said. “It would just help to ensure that it’s not being used during those high traffic (times) when the school children are there. The recommendation is a ‘no parking’ sign to the west of the crosswalk just on the southern side of the street. That’s the actual area where there’s the most problems.”
The third recommendation was to install a “caution” sign with flashing lights on Burpee Road on the approach to the intersection to Buena Vista Street.
“We’ve had a number of comments or requests come in,” Kane said. “The problem is when traffic is traveling down Burpee Road toward Essex Street, there have been concerns or statements that people are traveling too fast and so when vehicles are on Buena Vista Street and want to turn left or right, drivers coming down Burpee aren’t driving in a cautious manner that they can safely get out.”
Because of the existing stop signs at Foster Road, Jessie Street and Burpee Road, and the topography of the road, Kane said the traffic committee didn’t feel that a stop sign on Burpee at Buena Vista Street would be appropriate. He said because of the way the street comes down, drivers wouldn’t see the stop sign until they were right on top of it.
“We did come to the conclusion that … installing a caution sign well ahead of the intersection, possibly with flashing lights is a better means to let drivers know there is an oncoming intersection ahead,” Kane said.
