Politics & Government

Refuge in Store for Square Pedestrians

The Dedham Board of Selectmen approved a $4,000 temporary fix in an attempt to prove pedestrian safety on the corner of High Street and Eastern Avenue.

Even with some light moments surrounding talks by Dedham town officials regarding pedestrian safety, many have expressed concern about dangerous intersections and crosswalks in recent weeks.

At the lone August Board of Selectmen meeting, members voted to approve a $4,000 pedestrian island to help walkers trying to cross Eastern Avenue where it intersects High Street.

"The value of saving someone's life at a crosswalk like that, there is no comparison," said Selectman Paul Reynolds.

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The new crosswalk – which the Department of Public Works has physically outlined – will be 6 feet wide by 26 feet long and raised off the ground.

Selectman Michael Butler said the town would put increased signage around the new pedestrian island, but admitted the temporary fix wouldn't help the dangerous right-hand turn from High Street to Eastern Avenue.

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The island represents a temporary fix that the town needed immediately, Butler said, adding that he and others in the town spend their days finding other solutions.

Those solutions could rest in the hands of the state and a $1.3 million grant that would pay for infrastructure improvements to Dedham Square, said Economic Development Director Karen O'Connell.

O'Connell and other sectors of town government constructed a $4 million plan to erect a new traffic signal at Eastern Avenue and High Street, and replace the standalone light at the intersection of High and Washington streets.

Those crosswalks – seven in all, including a new one at Eastern and High – would be signaled-controlled, something they presently lack. The only set of pedestrian signals is on the corner of High and Court streets.

"[We] want to promote walk-ability in the Square," O'Connell said in a recent sit-down with Dedham Patch.

The ever-dangerous Eastern Avenue crosswalk would shrink in size from 75 feet to 45 feet, and the sidewalk outside of Mocha Java would be "bumped out" to change the angle in hopes of slowing drivers down.

Traffic patterns would change as well, if all goes according to plan. A left-turn-only lane would ease confusion and congestion as drivers seek to make a left onto Eastern Avenue from the westbound side of High Street, O'Connell said.

Other roadway improvements will come in how the town paves the roads and constructs new crosswalks. Instead of just paint, more visible and physical cues will be given to both pedestrians and drivers, such as signage and different pave grades of crosswalks.

While traffic studies and Square improvement plans have circled the halls of 26 Bryant St., for years, O'Connell said she believes the timing is right for action now.

"People see a link between public improvement and economic development, and that one can spur the other," she said.

With the town trying for the state grant, O'Connell said Dedham is trying to make the project "shovel-ready," a new buzzword in public infrastructure improvement plans.


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