Before
At first, for drivers of the Carriage Road, the STOP sign was too far from the intersection. We had it moved closer to the intersection and DPW installed a second STOP sign on the right side.
Also, for southbound drivers of Valentine Road, there was no stop sign before the Carriage Road, with its many runners, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The only existing STOP sign was located at Commonwealth Avenue.
So DPW painted “DO NOT BLOCK THE BOX.”
Still drivers would stop and wait in “the box,” thus blocking pedestrians and bicyclists from travel east/west.
DPW added a STOP sign on the right, but it was under the tree limbs and not particularly visible, esp as drivers were coming out of a bend in the road. So a second and larger stop sign was installed on the left. It too didn’t help much to get drivers to stop.
A Pedestrian/Bicyclist sign was added for drivers from Comm Ave, by DPW engineer, Zach Bosch.
We observed there was no STOP sign along Valentine before the Carriage Road. We docketed for one, and it was approved and A STOP sign was added on top of the “DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION” sign.
STILL drivers continued to pass straight through the intersection. That’s when we asked Chief John Carmichael from the Newton Police Dept. if he would meet with us on-site. He did, and he also brought along several other officers.
We looked at the shrubbery and the overgrown shrubbery that pedestrians had to walk through. Chief Carmichael agreed that shrubbery needed to be cut back to allow a clearer path for pedestrians. He also saw the cobbles as problematic. (See before and after, below.)
Before
After working with Parks and Recreation to keep these bushes off the sidewalk.
Before
After working with Parks and Recreation to trim bushes and trees so pedestrians can safety and comfortably pass.
With Chief Carmichael and the three other officers from NPD, we stood at the intersection of Valentine and the Carriage Road and continued to observe the Valentine Street drivers going right through the two STOP signs, amazed that this was occurring even though there were four police officers standing there! We surveyed and discussed the effectiveness and location of the single existing stop sign on the Carriage Road, and its location so far from the intersection.
We also surveyed and discussed the effectiveness and location of the single existing stop sign on the Carriage Road, and its location so far from the busy intersection.
Chief Carmichael agreed that 1) the STOP sign needed to be relocated closer to Valentine (see left image) and 2) a second stop sign added on the right (see right image). DPW did both.
Chief Carmichael noted that a pedestrian crosswalk needed to be installed at the base of Valentine Street, before it intersected with the Carriage Road. After the Carriage Road was repaved in 2023, new ADA-compliant curb cuts are installed. A pedestrian crosswalk was installed across Valentine, as well as several others: One was added across the Carriage Road berm to the east of Valentine and then across Commonwealth Ave, for people wanting to safely cross Commonwealth Avenue; and another one was installed to the west of Valentine across the berm from the Carriage Road and then across Commonwealth Avenue.
As hoped, this, in combination with the other improvements, has been effective in changing driver behavior to STOP the motor vehicle before reaching the intersection with the Carriage Road.
Additional improvements at the heavily-traveled Valentine Street were also made, with the re-paving of the Carriage Road. RRFBs were added along Commonwealth Avenue to both pedestrian crosswalks, both east and west of Valentine St.
