Life in Newton could be so much better!
Three things that strain my patience, the ozone layer and the neighborhood.
One is the drivers who want to make a left turn and block the whole intersection, resulting in cars backed up, for no reason. They stay in their regular spot, just as if they were going straight; they have their blinker on but do not move forward and block everybody else behind them. Why not move forward, to the middle of the intersection, but without going in the opposite lane? This way, anyone going straight can go around them and not pollute, wasting gas/electricity.
My second wish has also to do with intersections: pedestrians who push the crossing button and make everyone stop. Usually, they just want to cross one street; that street should have a red light, indeed. Why is the signal not letting the cars also crossing that street move? Again, saving on idling. Pedestrians crossing on the diagonal? that’s a lot of idling! Why not doing it the NYC way: first you cross the Avenue while cars go down the street, then you cross the street while cars go down the Avenue. Less idling. Please, do not tell me the existing system is safer for pedestrians: since when is a red light license not to look both ways (in case someone is trying to make a turn)?
Number three is wishing people were more thoughtful. I live on a dead end, at the end of a long street, next to green space. In the winter, walkers, snow-shoers, skiers and sledders want to have fun, which is great. For some reason, many drivers prefer to park in the circle at the end, instead of along the sidewalks. I wish they would remember that trucks need that space in the circle to turn around. I wish they would think that salt trucks and snow plows need the space, as well as other trucks. I have seen truck drivers notice that the space is taken so they stop salting and plowing a couple of houses before the dead end and back up the very long block until the first intersection where they can turn around. Maybe people think that plows and trucks treating the road only come at night but they don’t: they come at unpredictable times. Thank you to the drivers who are thoughtful of neighbors and City workers.
I have many more important wishes for the City, of course, but these three are the ones that make me hope ‘those people’ can be more thoughtful.
First world problems?
We’re really blessed to live in Newton if these are the top 3 things you worry about.
Do you have a specific intersection in mind regarding your first wish? The requisite width for safely fitting two cars into one lane as you suggest does not always exist.
On your second wish– the debate of concurrent versus exclusive pedestrian phases is everlasting. The choice is a bit clearer for some intersections versus others. Do you have a specific intersection in mind? (I could name a few myself where I believe that the choice should be revisited.)
Your third wish is an interesting one. Turnaroud areas at the end of dead-end streets exist for public convenience and for public safety. Many of Newton’s dead-end streets saw turnaround areas added when transitioning from private way to public way decades ago. With deference to parking demand and the dimensions of the rest of the street, some turnaround areas might be candidates for parking restrictions.
Just curious-are you one of those drivers who honks their horn at a driver who wants to make a left turn but may want to wait until they feel comfortable making the turn without getting broadsided? I understand it is a huge hardship to wait an extra twenty seconds behind a car. Perhaps we should fine those scofflaws who inconvenience other drivers by wanting to turn safely.
“pedestrians who push the crossing button and make everyone stop. Usually, they just want to cross one street”
How inconsiderate of pedestrians pushing the cross walk button just because they want to cross one street. Let me suggest that if your concern is idling cars the solution is walk more, drive less.
Well said.
Attention motorists and pedestrians who are slowing down the author in her quest to drive her car someplace, could you all please just get the eff out of her way? A little thoughtfulness would go a long way, for cripes sake.
Some harsh criticism above for a thoughtful and well written post.
100 years ago when I was learning to drive, Sonny, my driving instructor from Garber Auto School in Newton Centre, emphasized the importance of “engaging” an intersection when waiting to make a left turn. It was good advice. It’s the correct way to drive, It’s courteous to those drivers behind you who are also waiting to make a left turn, and it assures that more than one car can make the left on a single light cycle. Isabelle is completely correct on that point.
Mike- The only thing I remember from driving school was footage from the Ohio state police about the carnage that car accidents can cause. The issue is really not about what the correct way of driving is. We can debate the skill level of Newton drivers. If being stuck behind a car for a light cycle is one of the three things that annoys Isabelle the most, I say suck it up and get over it.
Isabelle, what you refer to in #2 is known as concurrent crossing and it already exists at several intersections in Newton. One of the first to be implemented was Centre & Beacon. The original implementation didn’t even require pedestrians to press the so-called “beg button” but that was restored due to ignorance on the part of the Commission on Disability.
Concurrent crossing not only means less waiting time for drivers, but better service for pedestrians as well, since they may not have to wait a full cycle to get a signal. It generally works well for signals with high and predictable pedestrian volume (yes, think NYC) and even so it isn’t as simple as it sounds, as there are engineering requirements to make it safe. One of them is signals that support leading pedestrian intervals (LPI) so that the pedestrian gets a head start and does not end up stepping off the curb at the same moment a driver gets a green and makes a right turn. Even then, without proper sight lines concurrent crossing can be quite unsafe — see MassDOT’s very poor implementation at Route 9 and Parker with the $7M MassWorks grant that kids have to cross to get to South and the middle schools. To this day, MassDOT is ignoring requests from angry parents like yours truly to get their act together.
@Adam – Concurrent walk signaling is great in theory but fatal in practice. It’s particularly dangerous at Oak/Christina/Needbam Street afyer sunset..
https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-massachusetts-flawed-walk-signal-system-eyed-in-pedestrian-death/38146958
There is only one reason why the Powers That Be allowed this “guest post.” It is to make Sean Roche look reasonable and ratiomal by comparison.
LOL! #elmo
This is like a piece of absurdist performance art. “My life would be perfect if it weren’t for those pesky pedestrians, hikers, traffic engineers, and other drivers who interfere with my desire to drive at high speeds, unimpeded, on well-sloughed roads through residential areas.” It has united several posters who never agree on anything. It’s a small world, after all!
Exactly. Of all the things you could wish for in the world…
I’m confused by Wish #2. Isabelle complains about the four-way stop because it leaves all traffic idling, but she also seems to suggest it’s not safe for pedestrians to cross — especially on the diagonal — because a driver at the intersection might make a right-on-red turn and hit said pedestrian. Doesn’t the four-way stop requirement supersede the right-on-red allowance? Perhaps some well-situated, visible “No right on red while pedestrians are crossing” signs at the intersection would be helpful?
@ John White. I never said ‘high speeds’. On the contrary, I am talking about what is better for the planet and me: less idling.
Moving forward at an intersection when planning to make a left turn is pretty simple AND it allows the car behind to drive around and continue straight, instead of being stuck and idling.
For those wondering, I was pretty much talking about any Left turns off Chestnut St or Beacon St where there is no marked left turn lane.
Glad my post unified some posters: why not?
@Isabelle, you confined your three wishes to making it more convenient for you, and presumably everyone else, to drive everywhere they go, which in practice they do mostly in single-occupant cars. America’s obsession with designing our cities for cars instead of people is a major reason why we generate among the most CO2 per capita in the world. Replacing those gas-guzzlers with electric cars will help, but less than one might think, as building EVs is carbon-intensive and we don’t yet have a clear path to 100% renewable electricity. I absolutely reject the false argument that a world full of unimpeded automobile traffic is good for the planet. Nor is it good for us — the U.S. has the highest traffic fatality rate of any wealthy democracy, and drivers kill over 6700 American pedestrians each year.
With a “feels like” temperature of five degrees fahrenheit and, to first order, a nonfunctioning public transportation system, what might you suggest Mx. White? Would it be sufficient if we all just felt badly as we conduct our business? Maybe you can provide us with a recording reminding us how awful we are for using cars when there is no other practical alternative. A video of you frowning and sternly shaking your finger may also do the trick.
I share Isabelle’s frustration about turns in intersections. The state’s instruction book for getting a driver’s license makes it clear that she is correct.
Is this a Festivus thread? I’ve got a problem with youz people!
– when it snows, clean the snow off your car. The top of the car too. No need to have snow and ice flying off and hitting cars around you!! Don’t be lazy people!! I’ve seen people with half their windshield cleaned off and that is it.
– similar to point above .. move over a bit and let folks get around if turning.
– if you have room in your driveway, park in it.
– if the road is skinny and / or has bends / hills – think about where you are parking your car on the road as you may be causing choke points where car drivers can’t see beyond and are risking themselves and oncoming drivers as they try to get around your parked car.
My three wishes personally would be:
1. Return NPS back to its previous strength
2. Defuse hostility between neighbors from the development debate
3. Make tangible, transformational changes to the way policing is conducted in Newton
but I guess I didn’t think about “pedestrians who push the crossing button and make everyone stop”