NORTHFIELD — New crosswalk signs with flashing lights are being installed to improve pedestrian safety on the town’s heavily trafficked Main Street.
Workers with the state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) installed the flashing signs, which can be activated by pedestrians at crosswalks. Crossings at Maple Street and at Northfield Elementary School have already been completed, while others — including at Moody Street and by Mill Street near the Post Office — are still in the works.
Additional work is being completed in front of Dickinson Memorial Library. Marked parking spaces in front of the library will remain accessible. Meanwhile, a section of Main Street in front of the library that was previously marked as a “No Parking” zone will be converted to a grassy area, shortening the crossing for pedestrians.
“It’s what they call a bumpout at the crossing,” Town Administrator Andrea Llamas said of the grass extension. “It makes it more protective for pedestrians, and essentially they get across the street quicker.”
According to Llamas, the work is funded by MassDOT at no cost to the town. The flashing signs are coming to fruition just over a year after the Selectboard sent a letter to MassDOT Director Peter Cavicchi and state legislators in August 2020 requesting improved crosswalk signs on Main Street, which is part of state highway Routes 10 and 63.
The letter addressed the traffic that travels through the center of town via Main Street, along which many residences and businesses, as well as almost all of the town’s office and public safety buildings, Northfield Elementary School and Dickinson Memorial Library are located.
Northfield had listed improvements to “Main Street Pedestrian Crossing Safety” as one of the first priority projects in the town’s Complete Streets Prioritization Plan, which was approved in the spring of 2020. While this allowed the town to apply for a grant through MassDOT’s Complete Streets Funding Program, Llamas previously explained the request could not include improvements to the Main Street crosswalks because they are under MassDOT’s jurisdiction.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.