Tuesday afternoon I was sitting at the stoplight at Cherry and Washington waiting to turn left from Washington to Cherry. The all-walk was lit and a man in an electric wheelchair was trying to cross the street from the corner next to the Cherry Tree restaurant to reach the ramp in front of the church across the street.
For those who may be unfamiliar with it, this is a huge stretch of asphalt that, according to Google Maps, measures roughly 60ft across. Including the parking lane, there are 6 full lanes devoted to cars. This man was trying to do the diagonal, which is roughly 80ft.
The catch is that the road is a mix of patches and potholes, meaning it was pretty slow going for him and he was still shy of the center lane when the light changed and the folks waiting at Cherry Street got the green.
This is where my mother-in-law exclaimed, “Oh, that poor man!” The cars, led by a landscaping truck pulling a trailer, took the left, avoiding him, but still coming kind of close. He kept moving along, but you could see him furtively looking over his shoulder. You don’t need to have been in a wheelchair to know the fear he experienced at that moment. The line of cars followed.
My light turned green. I hesitated and waited for him to reach the ramp, then went, by the time the light cycle reached me he was almost there. We all act this way when we’re in a car. We’re in a hurry, we have a place to be, we’re in our own world and need to satisfy our own needs first.
Thankfully, you’re not going to see this man on a casualty report, this incident is not going to show up as a safety concern. His fear doesn’t leave a mark or show as a physical injury, but it is real. It’s the same fear that causes people to run across streets (we’ve all seen that) and that makes parents afraid to let their middle school-aged children walk on their own.
To be entirely fair, W. Newton Square will soon be rebuilt with some better pedestrian access. But every time the idea comes up of taking away space for cars so we can make way for people, there is an uproar.
I just wonder why we want to keep building our world this way.
@Chuck: who is paying for the redo of West Newton square and when is it going to happen?
I believe the city council approved the funds earlier this year. The full project can be found here: http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/dpw/west_newton.asp.
I’m not sure of the current timeline as it was supposed to be underway at this point.
We the taxpayer is paying for it as we should. It’s about time. Thank you to City government for finally talking some action to deal with Washington Street.
We keep building our world this way because, for the vast, vast majority of us, it works. Citing one (or even a few) out of the probably tens of thousands of uses of one intersection as the basis for bemoaning our broken world is absurd. Certainly there are appropriate fixes for the type of issues observed in this anecdote which should be implemented none of which requires a wholesale rethinking of our basic infrastructure … unless of course one wishes to use incidents such as this as the basis for enacting a broader agenda.
I think I know the gentleman you are talking about as he has been going around West Newton for years. He often has to ride on the street because our sidewalks are an abomination. Truly unusable for people in a wheelchair. A few years ago my neighbor said that he was in the street and went over a pothole and fell and 911 had to be called. Our sidewalks need to be accessible to all.
Is 24 to one a vast majority? Roughly 4 out of every 100 people in MA have a permanent mobility disorder. The number is probably higher in Newton because our population older than average with higher risks of Parkinson’s, arthritis, etc.
The reason we see so few people with disabilities out and about is because it is so hard for them to get around.
https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/08/30/MRC-Disability-Fact-Sheet-2017.pdf
Let us know if the construction timeline becomes known, please. I’ve been following this since at least 2016!
My understanding is that the city delayed starting the West Newton Square redo in order to fix some water mains and replace service connections to the buildings there. While the delay is frustrating, if it prevents having to dig it up again for water 6 months after it’s done, that’s understandable.
This past week I have seen surveyors out working, and fresh construction markings on the pavement. So I’m hopeful to see actual reconstruction soon! But if anyone has an actual schedule, please do share!
@Elmo Our streets are not working for so many people. Yes people with physical disabilities , but also parents with children in strollers, people just trying to cross the street safely, people on bikes and even drivers who are frequently in crashes along Washington St. Add to that everyone is exposed to the air and noise pollution from our heavily car-centric transportation model. We need to design our streets better, to be safer and more pleasant for those walking, biking and rolling.
One thing everyone should keep in mind, regardless how able bodied you are today, tomorrow you could break a leg, have a stroke, need to wheel a parent out of their house for a meal, etc. and you too would need more time to cross the street.
I’ve spent the past few months unexpectedly stuck in a wheelchair for more than 3 months, then crutches, now a cane. As Alicia said, we are all at risk of imminently becoming either temporarily or permanently disabled.
I now understand why people in wheelchairs use the streets – the sidewalk on my block is very difficult to traverse with a wheelchair in places, even if someone is pushing it. On crutches I needed to keep my eyes on the ground to check for safe places to place the crutches and walk. Now that I’m using a cane, I’ll drive 3 blocks because I feel unsafe when the sidewalk is so cracked and uneven, and I’m very nervous crossing streets.
We need to do better.
So Chuck, why weren’t you riding your bike instead of driving? Shouldn’t everyone be giving up their cars?
@Matt – In my opinion, the least we could do is make sure those who want to use their bike have safety and convenience. It is better for all of us. It is not a bad thing that people who bike sometimes and advocate for biking also drive sometimes.
Even if your physical condition requires you to drive rather than bike or walk long distances, every driver who chooses to bike instead is one less car competing with you for the road or a parking spot.
@bryan
Biking is a wonderful thing, except… when people who do not want to bike, or (to your point) cannot bike, are shamed online for not doing so.
@matt as I’ve said countless times before, I’m not suggesting eliminating all driving. I’m saying that the roads need to be equitable for all users, including driving and biking. Yes, I drive. And I bike. And I walk.
It happens that on that particular day I was driving my in-laws home from synagogue on the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah. My father-in-law cannot walk that distance.
Plus, our synagogue is on Washington Street, which is particularly inhospitable to alternative forms of transportation. I’ve biked there, but it means getting on the sidewalk and putting myself in conflict with pedestrians. The stretch of Washington Street between Comm Ave and Lower Falls is particularly dangerous to anyone who is not in a car.
L’Shana Tova, Chuck!
You know what makes biking safer? Less cars! Its the sole predator to bikers (other then pot holes).
That means NOT approving zoning (building) for density that our roads and public transit systems cannot support?
I just don’t understand how people like yourself and certain members of our City Council cannot make this connection.
Reducing cut-through traffic reduces the # of cars in Newton. Dense development reduces cut-through traffic and the need for driving overall if the development is near shopping, offices, transit, parks, etc.
@Chuck I look forward to the day that Washington St is safe and pleasant enough that people of all abilities can bike, trike and be bike-ferryed down it! It feels right now that we may all be very old by the time that happens.
What Matt said. @Lucia: how many instances of all the items on your list can you name that are all in ONE place, right NOW? Cut-through traffic will only increase exponentially if these projects are all built. Already happening.