Locals Push for Midblock Crosswalk at Cherry and Cross Streets

Saying it would improve public safety, dozens of property owners and residents in the area of Cross and Cherry Streets are calling for a new crosswalk there.

In a petition signed by 43 people, the group is calling for the town to create a midblock crosswalk that runs across Cherry Street from the western end of Cross Street, with a pedestrian-activated flashing beacon, while removing what they describe as a hazardous crosswalk just up the street, at Locust Avenue.

“The installation of a crosswalk at Cross Street traversing Cherry Street, together with the installation of a blinking crosswalk light, will provide a safe way for pedestrians and the like to cross the street, rather than the current mode, which is to jaywalk,” one of the residents, Susan Whitney, told members of the Police Commission during the appointed body’s regular meeting, held Wednesday night at police headquarters. 

She continued: “An added bonus of installing a crosswalk at Cross Street, together with the installation of a blinking crosswalk light, may very well be that flow of vehicular traffic and high speeders may in fact be forced to slow down, making a safer neighborhood for everyone.”

The owner of an apartment building on Cross Street, Arnold Karp, said that the neighborhood has filled out and “we now have enough of a pedestrian area that nobody seems to go all the way to East Avenue or to Locust Avenue.

He added, “Everybody crosses somewhere between the two, either at Cross, on either side of Cross, or some place midblock.”

Linda Silvestro said that motorists traveling on Locust Avenue take the turn onto Cherry “at a high rate of speed” and “it’s very, very dangerous.”

“You have to run” to get across the street, she said.

Asked how quickly the group could expect a response from the Commission, Police Chief John DiFederico said the matter must be studied, possibly by a professional traffic study consultant. He also noted that a new hotel is coming to the corner of Cherry and Locust “so we have to weigh all of the variables.” DiFederico said a response could be expected over the next two meetings (the Commission meets monthly).

In addition to handing in the petition, Whitney turned over an approximately 15-minute video of the intersection at Cherry and Locust that she said showed motorists: not stopping at the stop sign posted at the Cherry Street and Locust Avenue crosswalk; rolling through the stop sign; stopping only when forced to by Locust Avenue traffic; and not yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk. 

“The video will also demonstrate the congestion which exists at the Cherry Street and Locust Avenue crosswalk, as well as the velocity in which the motorists turn onto Cherry Street from Locust Avenue into this crosswalk,” she said. “You too will see two near-vehicle collisions. As demonstrated, the crosswalk conditions at Cherry Street and Locust Avenue make it unsafe and dangerous for pedestrians and the like. Again, our only goal is to make our neighborhood safe for pedestrians and motorists alike.”