SWAMPSCOTT — The town plans to start making infrastructure improvements to its crosswalks in high-traffic areas, especially the ones near its schools, as part of an effort to address pedestrian safety.
Eight crosswalks will be fitted with rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB), which light up when pedestrians cross the street, and 31 will be painted with thermoplastic paint, which lasts much longer than other paints and has higher visibility.
“Thermal plastic is a little bit more expensive but, on the positive side, would probably last four or five years as opposed to the regular paint, which lasts 6 months,” said Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta at last Wednesday’s Select Board meeting.
Cresta explained that he worked with Fire Chief Graham Archer and Police Capt. Joe Kable to select the 31 crosswalks that will be upgraded. Painting the 31 new thermoplastic crosswalks will cost approximately $18,750, as opposed to the $2,950 it would cost to paint them with regular paint.
Currently, thermoplastic crosswalks can be seen on Paradise Road and on Burrill Street near the train station.
The intersections that were selected are located close to the town’s public schools, where students have to cross, as well as other high-traffic and dangerous areas, including Humphrey Street at Monument Avenue, Salem Street, Orchard Road, Redington Street and St. John’s Church; Monument Avenue at Walker Road; and Essex Street at Burpee Road and at Stetson Avenue.
Of those locations, RRFBs will be installed at the middle school, the intersection of Orchard and Whitman roads near the Stanley School, Humphrey Street and Orchard Circle, Humphrey Street and Monument Avenue, Norfolk Avenue at the Clarke School, Redington Street at Blaney Street and Redington Street at Banks Road. These beacons are solar-powered and flash on both sides of the crosswalk.
Cresta said that these locations were the beginning of the infrastructural changes the town would be making, and he expected to appear before the Select Board after Labor Day to discuss more intersections where similar improvements would be beneficial.
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said that a lot of thought had gone into the decisions about the intersections that needed to be addressed.
“As we begin to kind of start this conversation, it’s generating a lot of really critical thinking about how do we define each of these critical crosswalks and intersections in a 21st-century way,” Fitzgerald said. “They were defined during a time where we had the horse and buggy, and we have yet to actually bring that 21st-century thought to a community where people love to walk.”
Fitzgerald also said that the town would be looking at and stepping up enforcement, especially with respect to distracted driving.
“We know that we are all busy looking at devices; we have to correct some of that if we want to ensure that Swampscott’s going to be safer,” he said. “I don’t want to suggest that it’s all about enforcement, but with the right balance of infrastructure, education and enforcement, we can make a difference in how safe this community can be.”
