Is Main Street Safe For Pedestrians?

Carolin Goldman was insistent: "Who’s responsible for the safety of pedestrians on Main Street? Who?" 

The longtime East Greenwich resident's question wasn't easy for Town Manager Bill Sequino to answer. For one thing, Main Street doesn't belong to East Greenwich – it's a state road. Even the sidewalks don't belong to EG, although the town can police both.

Goldman was on Main Street Tuesday afternoon with Sequino, testing a number of crosswalks to see how long it took cars to stop so they could cross safely.

Goldman has been frustrated with the danger of Main Street for pedestrians for a while – ever since she was trying to cross in front of Town Hall and seven cars passed her by before she could finally make her way. She wrote a letter to Sequino last August, demanding action, and contacted both the police and Town Council. Nothing happened.

Then, on February 20, two pedestrians were hit by a driver as they were using the crosswalk between Norman's and the Greenwich Hotel. The driver, who did not stop,

One of the people who was hit, Patty Daniels, was shaken by the experience not seriously hurt. The other person, Gene Hemingway, was badly hurt and remains hospitalized with head injuries. According to a close friend, Hemingway is recovering and able to get out of bed, but continues to need a high level of care. Both Daniels and Hemingway are East Greenwich residents.

In March, another pedestrian was hit while crossing the street nearby the EG Fire Station. She was not injured. 

Now the issue, and Goldman, have the town's attention. It's not the first time. In the 1990s, East Greenwich got permission from the state to place vertical orange markers in the middle of each downtown crosswalk for a trial period. The idea was they would remind drivers to stop when pedestrians were present.

But, according to Sequino, they were not an obvious success and the one at the curve by Cathy Garden was hit repeatedly, leaving pieces of it littered along the street. The state ended the trial.

Goldman said its up to police to do a better job ticketing drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Perhaps, if there were an officer dedicated to that job – i.e. if the people of East Greenwich wanted to pay more in taxes to hire someone to be dedicated to that job.

Sequino thinks he knows what would fix the problem.

After years of study (he has been EG's town manager for 25 years, after all), Sequino thinks the problem occurs on the sides of the street where parking spaces abut crosswalks – for instance, on the east side of the crosswalk in front of Town Hall. If a car is parked there, drivers can't see that there's a pedestrian waiting to cross unless the pedestrian is well into the street. 

That's unacceptable to Goldman. "Remove the parking spaces," she said on Tuesday. 

But for anyone who's paid even the slightest attention to parking issues on Main Street, that suggestion may well be greeted by the merchants there as fighting words.

After all, Main Street is the place where three years ago one merchant took another merchant to court over parking spaces.

For Goldman, however, the issue is simple. 

“Do we have to wait for an injury or a death before something is done?” she said.

Or maybe a creative idea or two. A couple of young residents have suggested to town council members an idea borrowed from Wakefield – traffic flags posted at each side of the crosswalk that could be used by pedestrians as they cross the street, then deposited on the other side.

Expect to hear more on that idea in coming weeks. If you have a suggestion, leave it in the comments section below.