Citing significant pedestrian safety concerns along Lincoln Avenue, particularly in the vicinity of RiversEdge Plaza, the Haverhill City Council voted Tuesday to ask for sidewalks between the plaza and Haverhill Stadium and to also install crosswalks in the area.
Council Vice President John A. Michitson made the motion after receiving complaints from an area resident who told him it is a dangerous place to navigate on foot.
“There are no sidewalks on either side of Lincoln Ave. from the stadium to the plaza. Anybody living in that part of the city should be able to safely shop down at RiversEdge, and when you try to cross the street from Lackey Street over to the plaza, you’re playing a game of chicken,” he told his colleagues.
Michitson said the problem is a personal one for him as he had received telephone messages in the past telling him his father was out in the middle of the road, waving to drivers, trying to get them to slow down.
Michitson’s motion also included a request the city talk with the owners of the plaza about creating clearly marked lanes for automobile and pedestrian traffic in the plaza parking lot.
Thanking Michitson for raising the issue, Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan pointed out there are a number of other areas in the city where a lack of signage and poor lighting make for a dangerous mix of cars and pedestrians. He urged the Council to make a higher priority of finding and repairing those areas.
Councilors approved the motion by a vote of 8-0 with councilor Michael S. McGonagle absent from the meeting.