Page 3 - WILMAPCO - Spring 2023
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Southbridge Transportation Action Plan
Begins to Take Shape
Building off of the transportation recommendations from the 2021 Southbridge Neighborhood Action Plan, the Southbridge Transportation Action Plan will focus on reducing improving walking and biking, and creating better bus connections. Community support for the effort has been strong, with a pair of Southbridge Civic Association representatives serving on the project’s steering committee.
As shared in the Winter 2023 issue of the Transporter, initial public feedback has been collected through a public survey and a community community’s transportation concerns and priorities. In addition, the project team held a youth outreach event in December. The young people who attended echoed the feedback meeting, including desire for more lighting at night, better walking and biking infrastructure, and more trees and grassy areas. While the Transportation Action Plan is still under development, this early feedback has enabled the project team to recommend improvements that could potentially be implemented within the next several years.
A Quick Action Memo, available on the project website, focuses on the installation of signage and marking step to accomplish the Transportation Action Plan’s objectives. The memo, shared with the City of Wilmington with the endorsement of local leaders, recommends “No Truck Parking” signs on several neighborhood streets and enforcing these rules. Outside
signs could direct trucks to major arterials, highways, and the port terminal, keeping them away from neighborhood streets.
additional speed limit signs could be installed at key locations. Restriping pedestrian crosswalks, meanwhile, could improve safety and reinforce where pedestrians have the right-of- way. New and larger stop signs, “Stop Ahead” signs, and restriped stop bars could better remind drivers to stop and look out for pedestrians. Other signage recommendations include “Watch for Pedestrians,” “School Zone,” and “Children At Play” signs.
The memo also recommends adjusting signal timing to match speed limits, so that motorists driving faster than the speed limit encounter red lights, while motorists driving at the speed limit encounter green lights in succession.
While the Quick Action Memo seeks to address some transportation needs quickly,theprojectteamisdeveloping more impactful projects for the medium and long term. These will be vetted through a community survey and public workshop this spring.
For more information on the Southbridge Transportation Action Plan and to view the Quick Action Memo, visit www.wilmapco.org/southbridge.
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