SAUGUS — At the Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday night, Precinct 2 Town Meeting member Robert Camuso approached the Board about bike path safety during public comment.
“I’ve been up here a couple times in the last few years, but I don’t know if anybody saw last Tuesday (there) was a white Toyota RAV4 coming down the bike path coming from Lincoln Ave,” Camuso said.
He said he was completely supportive of the bike path, but that everything had its problems.
Camuso hoped to bring a solution to the Board, showing a system that would act as a deceleration zone. It would slow the bikes down when crossing.
“There is signage at that street put up by the bike path, which is their rules to stop at every intersection. Ninety percent of the people don’t do it,” he said.
The gate system would stop “certain ignorant users that don’t follow simple rules.”
Camuso said it was lucky that there were no serious incidents at that intersection. He hoped the system could stop cars from going down and keep bikes from crossing without looking. He said the system could be removed for emergency services.
“Something needs to be addressed. It’s not an overnight fix, I understand. I’d just like the ball rolling,” Camuso said. “You’re not going to stop every problem on the bike path. I absolutely understand that.”
He said he’s had close calls with kids and older people on Vespas on the path.
“There’s guys on the path that think they’re Lance Armstrong, and they’re all geared up, and they fly through there,” he said. Camuso is worried that people who don’t know the area won’t know to look for the bikers who don’t stop.
“We appreciate you coming tonight. I know that you’ve been diligent regarding the safety concerns around the rail trail over the years,” Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta said. She noted that Town Meeting did vote for new signs to put up, which Camuso was a part of voting on. She understood that there were issues and that the Town was working to make it safe and secure for all residents.
Panetta also said she had asked for a similar system, but was told it was unlawful; however, they would look into it again.
Town Manager Scott Crabtree said that there was a type of system in other communities where there are things in the way of the paths that you have to slow down and go around to cross the street.
“We fought with them about why can’t we put those in because it would make it safer… There’s a standard, and I don’t know it off the top of my head… They absolutely do not allow it to be put in because it’s some sort of a liability for somebody else,” he said.
Crabtree said they were looking into a system that would sense the bikers and pedestrians coming down the path and automatically flash the crossing lights so that a button didn’t have to be pushed.
“It’s fairly expensive to install all of those. Even those crossing lights… They’re expensive,” he said.
Crabtree believes the sensors would at least be a start to better safety.
Selectmen Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini asked if they could do a scanner sensor on the side so that the trail didn’t have to be dug up.
“We tried to look at that. The problem is that’s more like stuff you buy at Walmart, and it just doesn’t last,” Crabtree said. “To do it professionally, I think, is a better deal.”
