The city is hosting a community meeting this Thursday night from 6:30-8pm at the Second Church of Newton to introduce a project which aims to improve the West Newton Square streetscape. Two to three million is budgeted to go towards improvements in West Newton Square next year. This project is being discussed in the context of the new complete streets draft policy to prioritize safety and address the needs of all users.
In recent years there have been studies on the Washington Street corridor and West Newton Village.
The discussion includes areas north and south of Washington Street. Significant changes to the turnpike tolls have made the traffic pattern obsolete. Does the new electronic tolling provide the perfect opportunity for a road diet? How can the roads be configured to make the village safer and more welcoming?
Newton’s complete streets draft policy appears to selectively not include the considerations necessary for motorized 2 wheeled riders of motorcycles or motorscooters. Once again Newton, bury your head and pretend they don’t exist.
West Newton Sq. was redesigned a number of years ago. Street lights were added, crosswalks were also added to improve safety. I don’t understand what changes can be made now to make it safer. Car accidents occur when someone losses control of their vehicle. I think this redesign plan is a waste of money.
Colleen, the last redesign was in the 1970s. Multiple car crashes into storefronts, including the tragic fatal crash at Sweet Tomatoes in March of this year, show that a resdesign is long overdue. You are living in the past.
The councilors from Ward 3 have pushed very hard to ensure that the community engagement process is as robust as possible. We want West Newton Square to be a model for the city. This is going to be done right, and I invite everyone who is interested in complete streets to show up.
Peace.
I’m glad West NEwton Square is being redone.
I’m getting frustrated that I don’t hear more about the very promised but very absent redo to Newtonville.
Ted,
I asked a newton policeman at a Starbucks what the cause of the accident was. He said its under State police investigation and they couldn’t talk about it. So, I don’t Knossos how you can prevent that without knowing the cause.
Rick, we have had not just one but several accidents in West Newton square, each involving cars that drive off the road over the sidewalk and into a storefront. The Sweet Tomatoes crash, and the crashes in front of the West Newton cinema and The Cherry Tree have helped focus attention on safety. People want to feel safe, and the councilors and city staff want to make sure they are safe.
The roadways into and around the square have been designed to maximize vehicle throughput and with pedestrian and bike as an afterthought if at all. As summer approaches (it’s here actually), people will want to sit out and enjoy a meal at a sidewalk table in front one of our fine restaurants in the square. This Fall, Rockport’s HQ will bring many employees and therefore more pedestrians into the square every day. They all want to feel safe and we want them to be safe. Much of the concentration on the redesign of the roads will be on the “complete streets” concept which takes into account pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles and would actually get people through the square faster by reducing speeds. I know that seems counterintuitive, but it really works.
We are going to work on that, and I invite folks who live or work in and around West Newton Square, and those who have an interest in a rational bicycle/pedestrian/vehicle that moves away from the car-centric design of the past to join us in coming up with solutions.
Still would like to know cause. Texting? Sleep? Heart attack? Faulty brakes? At some point it’s hard to design against those situations. That’s why, is the cause the design or a driver failure or mechanical failure?
I’m all for less cars. However, unless the sidewalks are clear, the wintertime makes it too dangerous to walk or bike anywhere around Boston. There’s not enough space.
Essentially, after Austin street and Orr building, and elimination of all but at large alderman, I have no faith in our government to do anything but help developers build “affordable housing”. So I am suspicious of anything at this point.
The fact that the roads are plowed but the sidewalks are homeowners responsibility shows where the priorities are with respect to pedestrians. Plow the side walks like you treat the roads and I’ll be a believer, otherwise, talk is cheap.
Rick – the pedestrian friendly cities of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville also require the resident to shovel their own sidewalk. I know that in Somerville at least, there are substantial tickets given to landlords when the sidewalks are not cleared in a timely manner. As a walking commuter in Newton I’d be on board for that.
I am all for a better West Newton Square. But I don’t see linking the Sweet Tomatoes & Cherry Tree accidents to poor design – unless you’re talking about concrete barriers along all the storefronts. The guy who drove into the Cherry Tree was OUI – high as a kite in the middle of the afternoon. Sweet Tomatoes is still “under investigation”, but a crash caused by a car driven thru an intersection against the light, at high speed and in the wrong lane, straight into a building without braking, is not caused by road design.
Tricia,these car crashes have helped us all focus on safety, and as provided the impetus to get serious talking about ALL of the safety considerations that need to be taken into account when we redesign the square. I have been discussing ways to renconfigure the intersections, create dedicated bicycle lanes and use bumpouts and other measures to make the square safer for pedestrians with people who really know their stuff, and I think it will be a marked improvement over the car-centric design we have today. The judicious use of crash resistant (there is no such thing as crash proof) bollards that can stop a truck will make pedestrians and business owners and their customers feel safer without giving them a false sense of security.
Rick, you obviously have your own agenda going on (I clicked the link to your blog). If you are interested in participating I invite you to do so. If all you want to do is come throw bricks, maybe you should stay home.
West Newton really needs a redesign. It’s the one area of the city that I actively avoid due to the poor street design. In addition to the safety issues, you can’t get through it from any point without hitting 2 traffic signals. Traveling straight down Washington St. through the square, you hit about 5 uncoordinated traffic signals. The signaling encourages drivers to speed up in an effort to catch a green light (which is of course a huge safety concern). There must be a better way.
Ted,
West Newton Sq. was redesigned in the 1990s when the left hand turn was eliminated at the cvs corner. The entire intersection was revamped to ensure safety for everyone. I don’t understand how it will become any better. Bump outs are absolutely awful for both drivers and cyclists. Why spend millions to alter it and end up with the same safety problems?
It may not have been as bad as the other crashes, but a car also crossed the curb and ended up across the sidewalk in front of the former Keltic Krust as it was being renovated. It involved two cars, in daytime in winter.
I’m tired of hearing unsubstantiated statements like “bumpouts are absolutely awful for both drivers and cyclists” unless you’re under the belief that cyclists should hug the curb as they ride and dart into the traffic lane when they hit an obstruction like a parked car (hint: they should not) As a driver, cyclist, and pedestrian, I’m very happy to point to examples like Centre and Pelham of how narrowing the roadway can increase safety and comfort for all three. There were plenty of naysayers then, on this blog and elsewhere, and the city did the right thing and proceeded with construction. Making pedestrians visible to vehicles should be a requirement at every crossing.
As long as we have cars there will be fatalities, but we should always seek to minimize the danger. It’s absurd to suggest that nothing can be improved. This isn’t strictly about the Sweet Tomatoes tragedy or that one intersection — the project has much wider scope than that — but we owe it to ourselves to investigate every accident and determine if design could have helped. And while we are at it, we should look at ways to make our streets more functional and more enjoyable.
I want to make it clear that, as a 20+year resident of West Newton who spends a ton of time walking and driving through the Square, I am in complete support of improving West Newton Square to make it safer and better for everyone – drivers, bikers, pedestrians, local businesses and their patrons. The lights and intersections are a disaster – trying to get through in a car or on a bike at certain times of the day must be what navigating the 7th circle of hell is like. Walking is OK, as long as you never need to get to the other side of the street. And clearly, wider sidewalks with more crash-resistant structures to separate cars from people and storefronts will help pedestrians and patrons feel safer, and may offer more protection from an out of control vehicle. I just want to make sure that it’s also clear that these crashes were not caused by – or even influenced by – the current design of the roads.
I am looking forward to the redesign of West Newton Square.
I was in Lee, MA this weekend. Their main street is an excellent example of a beautiful, safe, livable roadway. I took pictures but will just describe them. The bike lanes and crossings are painted green with a wide, white outline. Pedestrian crossings are deep red with the white outline. Most places have headin parking but it also has an area with parallel parking. The spaces have different parking periods from 15 min to 2 hours. There is also a parking lot at the end of the stores.
The sidewalks are wide with brick lining the street where there are nice street lamps with huge hanging flowers. There are brick bump outs with pocket parks, several places, including at the crosswalks where the sidewalk goes through them. These all have 4 trees, plantings, benches, a yellow crossing sign and attractive bollards. On corners at intersections, the pocket parks are larger with one quite large tree, several benches and large bushes with numerous blooming plantings. These have trash receptacles, recycling receptacles, bollards shaped like columns, all a deep grey that blends into the surroundings. The recycling bins say they were supplied by a grant from the EPA in small letters.
I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in one of the parks for a while people watching. The whole thing had a calming effect. I realize that Lee is a small, affluent town with little traffic except in the summer when thousands of tourists are in the area going to museums and Tangle Woods, which is why I was there. But still I could not help visualizing Washington and Walnut Streets in Newtonville and West Newton Square having that kind of appeal.
I’ve lived in West Newton for 11 years and I hate the traffic light situation in West Newton Square. I won’t even use the crosswalk on front of the cinema anymore because people run the red regularly. And the traffic lights are so confusing that I understand how people could accidentally run the red there. It’s unsafe all around. This is long overdue.
Marti, we can bring that kind of “curb appeal” (pun intended) to West Newton and Newtonville by giving Washington Street a “road diet.” Since the Masspike was constructed, Washington Street has become more and more like a highway, with too many lanes for pedestrians to cross safely, and no place for bicycles. That is because the design has been all about getting cars through as fast as possible. But in order to make it “safer,” too many traffic lights and turn restrictions were put in, which in turn make people go faster to get to the next light, and need even more lanes for queuing cars for turns on and off the side streets, making them even wide, etc., etc. etc. Wouldn’t it be great if it functioned more like this village center that was transformed into shared space?
A huge help would be to do whatever it takes to keep east bound drivers heading to Boston or the Newton Corner area on the Pike instead of racing down Washington St.
Ted,
I truly wish you the best of luck as you attempt to solve the traffic flow problems in West Newton square. There are so many obstacles to overcome. The village existed before there were cars. Now there are more cars than can be managed adequately at peak travel times. I still can’t envision a solution to this dilemma. Roundabouts require more space than exists there now and they are very unsafe too.
It would be interesting to hear peoples thoughts on how the the new toll collection gantry on the pike near Walnut street will affect traffic in the area. I occasionally hop on and off between Newton Corner and West Newton. Having to pay a toll fee will probably deter me from doing so. http://www.masslive.com/news/boston/index.ssf/2016/03/new_mass_pike_electronic_toll_1.html
@Ted – that video is amazing, and would love that vision for West Newton Sq, Newtonville, Newton Center and other places.
Marti: 100% agree on Lee. Great little downtown. Very well designed. Charming. And the traffic is sometimes brutal, but it tends to move.
West Newton Square needs a refresh. If we want businesses to flourish there the area needs to become more pedestrian and bike friendly. Most of those cars are just passing through and not visiting the square. As THM points out, Washington St. could use a road diet.
I’m hoping the new toll system and removal of the toll booths will also shift some of the traffic off Washington St to 16 and back onto the Pike. That shortcut will no longer save 128 commuters a toll.
@Doug,
Do you not think that gantry will in fact add more traffic to Washington Street? People coming out of Boston may be tempted to come off at Newton Corner and head along to West Newton via Washington St. The same could hold true for people who normally come onto the pike at West Newton. They could skip the Toll and head down Washington St and join at Newton Corner.
Ted, Love the video. It is truly amazing how much the changes created a slower, more peaceful village. It obviously works.
I am a little concerned about its complete transference to this area with the lack of painted lines and pedestrians crossing anywhere. But I would have been skeptical about those two things there too. Just wondering if MA drivers will be that polite. 😉
Marti, as discussed in the video, one of the keys is slowing the traffic down before it enters into the shared space by creating “gateways” that compel drivers to slow down so that by the time they are entering the shared space they are on a more or less level playing field with bicycles and pedestrians, speedwise. We could do that on Washington Street. Also, by elimiating some of the traffic lights, we could do away with all of the queuing that backs up the traffic and also leads to some reckeless decisionmaking when the light turns yellow. I cannot tell you how many times someone has passed me on the left as I sit in the turn lane on Chestnut Street because I won’t block the box when there is a line of cars waiting for the light at Washington and Watertown Streets. We could do away with the five lanes across in front of the Police Station, where a pedestrian has to be an Olympic sprinter to get to the other side safely.
Whether Masshole drivers (can I use that word on Village 14?) will be courteous enough is a consideration. But a well designed roadway that moves traffic along more smoothly, albeit at a lower speed, should invite better roadway behavior. If not, we have not one but two police stations nearby!
Simon, it remains to be seen, but the automatic collection gantries should be operational soon so we will find out whether the toll collector between West Newton and Newton Centre will lead to more traffic on Washington Street. I suspect for some folks from West Newton may try to bypass the toll collector at Lowell Avenue. But if the automatic toll collectors work as DOT expects them to, traffic on the Masspike will move more smoothly and more people will take the Masspike onramp at Exit 16 rather than run the gauntlet of traffic lights in West Newton, Newtonville and Newton Corner to save 25 cents. And the elimination of toll booths at the Weston tolls should move traffic along more smoothly there, too, so that fewer drivers will bypass the tolls and come down Route 16 to get on at either West Newton or Newton Corner.
@Ted.
Thanks for clearing that up. I had automatically assumed the toll would be 1.50 or there abouts. For 25 cents I should imagine most people would not try and work around it…. As long as they are aware the toll is just 25 cents!
Simon, the new pricing structure has not been announced yet, so it could be more like 50 cents, but the idea was to charge the same amount based on distance travelled without costing more for collection. The DOT has more information here.
I was very encouraged by tonight’s meeting. I hope we see lots more of this in the future: planning and DPW working together with the community to seek input and hiring a very competent engineering firm. Among the many complete streets topics I heard discussed in the breakouts: road diets for Washington Street (acknowledging changing traffic patterns from tolling changes and cut-through patterns when turns are restricted), safer and more accommodating pedestrian crossings, bicycle accommodations, better stormwater management, more street trees.
Tricia – while we’re never going to prevent OUI, brake failure, or unconscious drivers through roadway design, and I don’t think lining our sidewalks with concrete barriers is the answer, Sweet Tomatoes might just be one case where it’s not a bad idea, given the steep hill. At tonight’s meeting, DPW Commissioner Jim McGonagle announced that the city would construct some sort of crash barrier (more bollards?) in the short term to provide protection.
Regarding pike tolls, it’s important to remember that while a gantry is being added at Lowell, the Weston tolls are being pushed beyond 128, so demand for exit 16 from Washington Street eastbound ought to decrease substantially. Also, with the elimination of backups at the Weston toll booths, drivers should have less incentive to abandon the pike at Newton Corner or West Newton.
What a terrific turnout. The Ward 3 councilors–Barbara Brousal-Glaser, Jim Cote and myself–pushed hard for a robust community engagement effort to include diverse points of view and get both residents and businesses to participate. We were rewarded with a terrific turnout and lots of fresh ideas and contributors (including folks who were around in the 1990s for the community meetings on the last iteration).
One of the startling facts I learned was that of the 88 trees that were planted in the 1970s when the last major construction project was undertaken, 80 are either gone or in really poor condition. Everyone agreed that a tree canopy in West Newton Square is essential. The city promised to work with National Grid on fixing the gas lines that have been leaking for years, killing a good number of trees in the square, so we can restore the leafy canopy to the square.
I am also pleased to say that DPW Commissioner Jim McGonagle confirmed last night that Sweet Tomatoes anticipates reopening in August and that the city will purchase and install 14 crash resistant bollards along the sidewalks in front of the historic Seth Davis Tavern where Sweet Tomatoes is located. These are attractive, low profile bollards that I am hoping we will also eventually install at several locations in the square to protect pedestrians, businesses and customers. Here is a link to the website of the manufacturer.
I also want to give a shout out to the media who showed up for this meeting (we had 4 television stations there!). In particular, I want to thank WBZ-TV investigative reporter, Ryan Kath, who is also a West Newton resident and who brought the need for bollards to my attention. He was there for our first workshop and I hope to see him and everyone else who is interested at our next workshop in September.
If you are interested in more information, please visit the city website at http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/planning/parking_transportation/west_newton_sq_n_enhancements.asp.
I am very excited about this project, and am encouraged by last night’s turnouts and the shared enthusiasm of all of the workshop participants. We will take our village back and make it a special place to visit once again!
@Ted:
Nice that the city will place 14 crash resistant bollards (is that what they are called?).
Does the city plan to go around and place them in other higher probability locations, or do we just wait until after the fact.
That location seemed a relatively high probability of such a disaster. I would think the Sweet Tomatoes location in Newton Center is also prone; a car losing control, hitting the accelerator during turning, etc, could put an auto in that corner store as well.
We seem to see cars plowing into storefronts on a fairly regular basis. Having had a car come through the front window of an office I was in about 15 years ago, I know first hand how terrifying it can be. (The patient misunderstood I guess, when we told them to come right in)
Neil, unfortunately, your experience is not unique. Ryan Kath informed me that there is a bill at the State House that would require bollards for new construction where storefronts are located next to parking. The legislation was filed in response to a number of crashes at malls where drivers hit the gas instead of the brake pedal.
There is a cost attached to installing them so we need to prioritize. We should also see how well these temporary bollards work (hopefully, they won’t have to) before going citywide. But I agree in principle that this is a good idea, particularly whereas we adopted an ordinance allowing sidewalk cafe seating a couple of years ago. The Cherry Tree had a car plow through the window a couple years ago, and it has several tables out front on the sidewalk for outdoor dining.
The constructive bollard of the future should also integrate bicycle security with an eye toward anti-terrorist targeting.
@Ted,
What about protective barriers in front of the Police Station? I recall an accident several years ago where a car came down the hill and crashed into the front of the building, taking out the electrical box located right in front. But for the grace of a higher power, nobody was killed or injured but the potential was certainly high.The damage was significant and in fact, you can walk up on the porch area and still see where the undercarriage of the car hit the rails on the porch. This was just a car…what if it was a truck, 18 wheeler? I would think the front of Police HQ and the Court would be a safety priority.
The city posted a wikimap You can add your comments there.