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Advocates for Calm Traffic

Norwalk, Connecticut

Letters from You/Articles in the Press

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Groton reexamines its street smarts

Foot traffic seen as key to success

By Susan Ware, Globe Correspondent | June 3, 2004

GROTON -- Barbara Scofidio is worried that the more than 10,000 vehicles that crawl through the center of town each day are making Main Street too unfriendly to pedestrians.

Scofidio, part owner of NOA, a multi-artist gallery on Main Street, has begun talking to officials about making improvements that would increase foot traffic, quality of life, and the bottom line of the businesses that line the two-lane route.

"It has been sort of the mission of NOA as a business to build awareness of Groton as a destination, more than just a place to drive through," she said. Scofidio believes that if the town center becomes more pedestrian-friendly, it will become a destination for the Boston area's art and antiques crowd looking for a day trip.

Two years ago, when NOA opened, she developed a walking map for visitors that details all of the galleries and antique shops in the area. All could be reached by foot.

This is a grass-roots effort, and Scofidio knows that the changes are not going to come easily. Funding for such things as crosswalks, parking areas, and landscaping is scarce, and volunteers are already stretched to the limit.

"We are trying to put together a group of like-minded residents who will help attract new businesses to town, work on making it more easy for visitors to visit, and overall enhance all that the town could be," she said.

Scofidio keeps tabs on changes among her business neighbors. When Annie's Bookstop closed recently, she tried desperately to replace the popular used book store with another bookstore by talking to people in the industry. Instead, a nail salon opened up.

"Of course, I would support anyone doing business in town. But we need businesses that are going to attract visitors, not just more doctors, lawyers, and real estate offices," she said.

Marketing Groton as a destination on the surface may not seem that difficult. The town is full of New England charm, two prestigious prep schools call it home, and Main Street has sweeping pastoral views.

Main Street has been carefully preserved, Town Hall received a facelift four years ago, and the various local boards carefully monitor not just the building code but aesthetics when new structures are added. Homes in this bedroom community west of Interstate 495 command top dollar because people desire the quality of life that the setting offers.

But construction has been explosive, and the growth has strained the infrastructure and school system of these desirable neighborhoods. Route 119 runs straight through town and brings thousands of commuters from Pepperell, Townsend, Brookline, N.H., and Hollis, N.H., heading to jobs east via I-495. The Nashua River Rail Trail, which runs from Ayer to Hollis, brings thousands of visitors to town, and officials are slowly looking at ways to accommodate them and harness the economic impact they bring with them.

Currently, Main Street is home to a natural foods store, two antique shops, five galleries, two florists, and a variety of small restaurants, all doing good business. But parking is a struggle, and Scofidio believes, a deterrent in the marketing of Groton.

"Towns that have a vibrant town center all have strong plans for off-street parking, and in Groton that piece of the puzzle seems to be moving very slowly," said Scofidio.

Dan Burden, executive director of Florida-based Walkable Communities Inc., agrees.

"If a community is going to become walkable, it needs a place for people to put their cars," said Burden, who has consulted with more than 1,600 communities over the past eight years.

"Making a community more pedestrian-friendly is great for business. It is the only way ma and pa stores can compete with the big-box stores. But pedestrians need to be able to flow easily back and forth across the street for that to happen," he said.

New England is the perfect model for pedestrian-friendly communities, said Burden, who points to successful revitalizations in Manchester-by-the-Sea and Salem in Massachusetts and Exeter and Meredith in New Hampshire. The real gem, said Burden, is Keene, N.H., which has a high quality of life for residents, and has developed a thriving Main Street where business is booming.

"Our lifestyle today does not give us enough ways to associate with other human beings," said Burden. "The way we commute, shop and spend our leisure time is all restrictive, we need to return to village living."

These issues are also being faced by communities outside of New England.

In Virginia, WALKArlington is a community initiative that was begun in 2001 by a bevy of residents; small-business owners; county officials who wanted traffic-calming measures; parents who wanted safer routes to schools; public artists; and landscape designers.

Norwalk, Conn., took a different approach. Three years ago, a grass-roots effort called Advocates for Calm Traffic began to look for ways to reduce the effects of the high volume of traffic.

Laurel Lindstrom, chairwoman of the group, explained that the strain of the traffic made the city unfriendly to foot traffic and was a deterrent to local businesses. With a population of almost 83,000, Norwalk has six submaster plans under one umbrella. While the city's different neighborhoods vary greatly, each master plan has a focus on returning to a more pedestrian-friendly environment of yesteryear, which in turn would increase the quality of life, tourism, and the environment for small businesses.

For now, Scofidio, who also lives in the center of Groton, is talking to others about the changes that she believes are needed and how they can be accomplished.

"We need a variety of shops, we need crosswalks and we need help," she said.

Susan Ware can be reached at ware@globe.com.

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Speed bumps improve neighborhood safety
Children are less likely to be hit or injured, study finds

The Associated Press
Updated: 6:38 p.m. ET March 30, 2004

WASHINGTON - Some people find them annoying, but those speed bumps that force motorists to slow down in residential neighborhoods and near schools can significantly cut the risk of injury or death to children, a study says. The review found that children who lived on streets near a speed bump were up to 60 percent less likely to be hit and injured by an automobile than youngsters in areas without them.
The study, released Tuesday, is published in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

It looked at youngsters under 15 who were struck on residential streets and taken to the emergency room at Children's Hospital Oakland in California over a five-year period.
"One of the reasons this research is important is that a lot of times there are things that seem intuitive," said June Tester, a pediatric resident at the hospital and the study's lead author. It makes sense that speed bumps would slow motorists down and reduce the risk of injury to kids, but it is not something that has been demonstrated or proven, she said.
Decrease deaths, injuries
Motor vehicle-related incidents are the leading cause of death for children age 1 to 15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study said Oakland had the highest rate of pedestrian deaths among California cities in 1995. That year the city began a safety campaign after a pickup truck plowed into the playground of a local preschool, killing a 2-year-old and injuring 10 other children.
The effort resulted in some 1,600 speed bumps being installed on residential streets by 2000. Tom Van Demark, the head of the Oakland Pedestrian Safety Project, said there has been a 15 percent decrease in child pedestrian deaths and injuries in the past few years.

Speed bumps in many residential communities nationwide are not quite as high as the speed bumps one would find in a grocery store parking lot. Van Demark said the bumps, usually about 6 inches high, are relatively cheap, costing about $1,000 each.
He said he has heard complaints from some residents who say the bumps signify a low-class neighborhood. "In fact," he said, "they're installed in very nice neighborhoods in Oakland."

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