North Road Pedestrian Crossing Lights to be Installed

By Kim Siebert MacPhail

Flashing lights that will help pedestrians cross North Road safely will be installed once weather permits, according to Selectman Margot Fleischman, liaison to the Transportation Advisory Committee.

“At the time I was speaking [to Town Manager Rick Reed] about this [and learned that the lights had arrived], there was still snow on the ground,” Fleischman said told the Transportation Committee on Thursday night. “My understanding is that they are just waiting for the weather to improve.”

The crossing lights will be installed at the two locations where the new North Road sidewalk shifts from one side of the street to the other. The first crossing is just north of the intersection with the Carlisle Road; the second crossing is at Harvard Drive, where the remaining phase of the North Road sidewalk project still to be completed will cross the street and continue to Pine Hill Road.

The lights will flash yellow, but only on demand; they are intended to warn motorists that pedestrians want to cross, but they will not force vehicles to come to a full stop.

“The pedestrian-activated, flashing warning signal apparently is something you can just put up [without going through the warrant process],” Fleischman said, when questioned about why the chosen signal style wouldn’t completely stop traffic. “But it’s a [yellow] indication light, not a [red] enforcement light. There’s no signalized intersection [there], so it’s not like you can press a button and make the traffic stop; it’s a crosswalk with flashing warning signs.”

The desire for greater enforcement of the speed limit on North Road in preparation for increased pedestrian crossing was noted and Fleischman said she had discussed the issue with the appropriate Town officials.

“[Chief Bongiorno] is aware of our concerns about enforcement and education in advance of the installation,” Fleischman said.

“My worst fear is that kids are going to push that button and think that it protects them,” cautioned Transportation Advisory Committee Chair Bob Dorer. “Those of us that interact with those kinds of signals have learned to wait to see if the car’s really stopping. Sometimes they go flying right through.”

Members of the Committee reflected that it would be a lengthy process to get authorization from the State for a full stop traffic signal, though it might be warranted in this situation.

“I have seen pedestrian crossings that aren’t at intersections that literally shut down traffic,” Dorer said. “It’s probably [more easily] justified in areas of high pedestrian volume going between the two sides [of the street].”