NECP Safety Initiative: Education Center Now a School Zone

Dear NECP Families,

I am happy to report that the Newton Traffic Council has approved several measures to help improve the safety of Walnut Street in front of the Ed Center.

First, the council has designated the stretch of Walnut Street between Watertown Street and Linwood Ave a “School Zone.” This means the following:

1. The City will provide “School zone ahead” signs on both the northbound and southbound sides of Walnut Street. These signs will appear near intersection of Linwood Avenue and Walnut (heading south on Walnut) and near the intersection of Watertown Street and Walnut when heading north on Walnut. This gives drivers an early warning of the school coming up. This is particularly important because there is a downward grade in the road in both directions, so without this signage, motorist often can’t see the crosswalk sign until they are very close to the crosswalk.

2. Shortly beyond those signs, there will be additional signage designating the area as a school zone, with a 20 mph speed limit. This provides additional warning about the crosswalk and lowers the speed limit to 20 mph.

3. The crosswalk will be painted with the word “School”

Second, as you may have noticed, the Newton Police Department temporarily removed four parking spaces on Walnut Street in front of the Ed Center (two on the school side and two directly opposite). Those spots will now be permanently removed. Everyone agrees that the parking situation around the Ed Center is difficult at best, but this change is critical for safety. When there are cars parked in those spaces (particularly taller SUVs/minivans) it is virtually impossible for motorists to see pedestrians entering the crosswalk and very difficult for pedestrians to see cars coming unless they step several feet into the crosswalk. It is essential to keep clear sightlines around the crosswalk. We ask that parents be mindful of these parking constraints.

Finally, Traffic Council is putting thought into ways to improve parking in the area. Between the Ed Center employees, NECP staff and parents, and Day Middle School staff, parking is tight and frustrating. There may be a few ways to address this and Traffic Council is taking initiative to do so. The first suggestion is to designated 5-8 parking spaces on the school side of Walnut Street as short term parking (15 minutes) during school hours. The goal is to help rotate those spots more quickly. Mike Thurm has offered to work with Traffic Council in assessing the flow of students coming in during peak times and figuring out how to maximize parking ease. Traffic Council is also thinking about other ways to increase parking in the area, with an awareness of the particular challenges that parents of young children have getting in and out of the preschool (often with more than one small child in tow). It will take some time to make headway in this area, but there was a lot of interest in doing so.

The PTO would like to thank past co-chairs Nancy Ferrari and Erik Dubovik for the countless hours they’ve put in to get us to this point, as well as to Mike Thurm for being a strong advocate in this initiative. We would also like to thank aldermen Linksy, Albright, and Johnson for sponsoring our petition and for being so willing to work with us further regarding traffic and parking issues. And finally, may thanks to the Newton Police Department which has been very responsive to requests for directed patrols and for offering additional advice regarding improving safety.

More information will be coming about how the School Safety Initiative will proceed. If you would like to be involved in the continuing conversation about school safety during the coming year, please let me know!

Alison Lobron