In December, Northampton’s DPW Director Donna LaScaleia announced that a plan for the intersection between Childs Park and Northampton High School will go to bid. This design leaves the street configuration largely unchanged but adds two stoplights. The stated goal is to improve safety, yet for $3M(!) the design has limited benefits over the existing configuration and misses an opportunity to advance the city’s own sustainability and safety goals. We urge the city to evaluate lower-cost methods known to increase safety before proceeding. 

Speed is the most important factor in traffic safety, yet the design concentrates on traffic lights instead of traffic-calming to slow drivers down. Federal guidance strongly recommends considering alternatives before installing traffic signals, which do not control the speed of vehicles and can actually promote speeding. Studies show the difference between 25 and 40 mph: Accident survival rates drop from nearly 100% to 10%. Yet designs to slow traffic, including proven measures like raised crosswalks, speedhumps, and significant lane narrowing and crosswalk shortening, were not seriously considered.

Meanwhile, school busing policies ($309; available only 1.5-miles+ from school) and parking (free!) encourage driving to school, increasing intersection traffic. A broader analysis could consider safer walking and biking options and expanded busing rather than treating this as a purely intersection-level problem.

For years, residents and Transportation and Parking Commission (TPC) and Bike/Ped Subcommittee members have called for the city to consider a different approach focused on slower speeds. At the Jan. 17, 2023 TPC meeting, one member asked, “Could there be an un-signalized option that could be considered?” and City Councilor Alex Jarrett asked the city to consider additional traffic-calming measures. Director LaScaleia responded that the city would look at a variety of options. Nevertheless, Fuss and O’Neill, the city’s consultants, never shared any analysis of alternatives without signals.

Many studies and experiences of other cities show that slowing traffic, to make biking and walking safe, increases the numbers of people who leave their cars behind, and gives children independent mobility. We implore our city to revisit the design and prioritize slowing cars before spending $3M on signals.

Jen Nery, Alex Bowman, Dani McKahn, Barbara Ferrante-Bricker, George Kohout, Lilly Lombard, James Lowenthal

Northampton