Efforts to improve street safety for bicyclists and pedestrians in downtown Haverhill will continue in the coming year, according to the quasi-public Merrimack Valley Planning Commission.
A “Safe Streets” program aimed at reducing bicycle and pedestrian crashes was launched by the commission last summer in conjunction with Haverhill Police and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. As a result of increased enforcement, education and information gathering efforts by police, as well as walking tours led by bike and pedestrian advocates, plans are in the works to implement several street infrastructure improvements.
The agency is funded by state aid deducted from the communities of Amesbury, Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, Newburyport, North Andover and Salisbury.
I’m curious what the increased enforcement will entail. I hope it’s not just ticketing jaywalkers, but cracking down on cars running stop signs, speeding and not yielding at crosswalks. In case anyone’s interested in the history of how jaywalking became a crime and pedestrians became secondary to vehicular traffic: http://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history
waste of time /money