As you have previously heard, crosswalks are a high priority for our family, and there are many other citizens of Waitsfield, who agree. Forty-eight percent (48%) of respondents to question 25 in the 2009 Town Survey supported sidewalks. Additionally, safety at intersections and lack of sidewalks were identified as top issues to a large majority of families with young children who live close enough to walk or ride to the Waitsfield School, as surveyed by the Safe Routes to School team in 2009.
We encourage you at this time to consider supporting the location of the crosswalks in Alternative B and have the following comments to go along with this preference as outlined below:
· Widening the road for bike lanes has proven to increase traffic speed and even passing of cars in other towns. While our original intentions to include these lanes along Route 100 were good, these unforeseen outcomes are not in the best interest of Historic Waitsfield Village. See also comments from Ellen Strauss (email dated March 24) and Kirsten Siebert (email dated March 23).
·
Curbing should be added – uniformly through the village -- to delineate the
road/on-street parking, preserve the “grass strips” and provide for
pedestrian safety.
· Drainage should be added to end the
flooding/pooling/etc. so as to protect the Mad River watershed.
· Trees should be protected and considered a
vital part of the grass strips.
· And finally, more work needs to be done on the
Parsonage Lane/Village Grocery parking/sidewalk/pedestrian crossing. It
should be clear that Parsonage Lane is a Town Road and not a parking lot.
In closing, we support a safe and vibrant, pedestrian-friendly village for Waitsfield, with a focus on traffic calming and safety, and we are confident that you do, too.
Many thanks for your serious consideration.
Jennifer Stella and Todd White
Waitsfield
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