The man who was killed by a car while he was walking in Brattleboro earlier this month was the fourth pedestrian killed by a car in Brattleboro in the past two years. About 12,000 people live in Brattleboro.
According to the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts web site, “Traffic calming is a way to design streets, using physical measures, to encourage people to drive more slowly, in order to provide a more livable environment and allow people to walk and bicycle more comfortably and safely.... The reason traffic calming is such a powerful and compelling tool is that it has proven to be so effective. Some of the effects of traffic calming, such as fewer and less severe crashes, are clearly measurable. Others, such as supporting community livability, are less tangible, but equally important.”
That quote is at this web page:
www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/design/trafficcalming.aspx
Eugene Narratt of Maynard, Massachusetts was killed when he was hit by a car on Western Avenue, a residential street near Main Street in downtown Brattleboro, on December 6. The driver of the car did not stop and has not been caught by police. Narratt was 64 years old.
According to the history of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition at www.SFbike.org, the group's “biggest victory in the 1990s were the bicycle lanes on Valencia Street, supported by the Board of Supervisors despite a Department of Parking & Traffic Director who declared 'there will be bike lanes on Valencia Street over my dead body.'"
According to www.TransAlt.org, “Transportation Alternatives’ mission is to reclaim [New York] city’s streets from the automobile, and to promote bicycling, walking, public transit and better traffic enforcement across the five boroughs. T.A.’s 100,000 active supporters and five Activist Committees work to bring safety improvements like protected bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes and pedestrian safety islands to our city’s streets.”
The Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition, a lobbying group, has a web site at www.VtBikePed.org.
Brattleboro is the biggest town in southeastern Vermont. Cars are a major cause of climate change, which scientists say is a threat to human life on earth. Walking reduces obesity.
Bikes and buses, too!
San Francisco now has green bikeways up and down Market Street, which is reported to be the most heavily biked street in the country. Small businesses love it: you can hop off a bike to shop. Anything that makes conditions better for biking is great.
But there is still a need for better local transportation which can only be met by buses. More buses, regular service - up and down Route 30, for starters.
Helena Worthen
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