Elm Square Safety Improvements
Anyone with suggestions, comments, questions, stories of "near misses", or other concerns is strongly urged to email elmsquaresafety@andoverma.us
and consider CCing walkbikeandover@gmail.com so we can follow up if needed.
Status
8/21/2023: Immediate-term safety improvements have been implemented, including an exclusive pedestrian phase, "No Turn On Red" for Main St traffic, a dedicated left-turn lane for southbound Main St traffic (on to Elm St), and the elimination of two parking spaces on Elm St to provide better sight lines to the High St. crosswalk.
8/7/2023: The final RSA report has been released and the town held the second public safety forum.
7/24/2023: Andover announced that the 2nd community forum will be held on Monday, August 7th, from 7-9pm at the West Middle School Auditorium. Come hear about the recommended intersection changes and give your feedback.
7/12/2023: Walk Bike Andover provided comments to TEC on the draft RSA report. We expect that the final (public) report will be available by the end of July.
6/26/2023: The Road Safety Audit site visit was performed on 6/26. The draft report is currently being prepared for review by the audit team and will be released to the public by the end of July. Read our update on the RSA site visit here.
6/12/2023:
Safety improvements to Elm Square are currently being considered, in conjunction with a Town-funded traffic study performed by TEC, and a state-sponsored Road Safety Audit (RSA). Our petition calling for immediate change has gathered 3,577 signatures as of 6/12/2023.
Walk Bike Andover would like to thank the Town of Andover, Town Manager Andrew Flanagan and associated staff, APD, and the Facilities department for taking action, starting with the community forum held on 6/8/2023. We look forward to working together to identify immediate-, near-, and long-term improvements for this intersection to improve the safety of those outside of a car. We also look forward to collaborating with Sidney's Rainbows (FB and Instagram), a parent-run pedestrian advocacy group born out of the recent tragedy at this intersection. Together, working in conjunction with the Town, we can prevent these crashes from happening.
Important Upcoming Dates
Implemented Changes
"25mph" has been painted on Elm St at Walnut St heading towards Main St (6/7/2023)
Elm St. stop line moved ~4' back from crosswalk (learn more about "Advanced Stop Lines") (6/7/2023)
Pedestrian clearance interval lengthened by ~4 seconds by increasing the "buffer interval" (time with steady "don't walk" hand before conflicting traffic is given a green light). Learn more about pedestrian light timing. (6/7/2023)
Important Past Dates
06/26/2023: RSA Site visit
You can read our update from the site visit here.
06/08/2023: Community Forum #1
The town gave residents an overview of the traffic study/RSA process and timeline, heard countless concerns, suggestions, and stories of "near misses" from residents, and reiterated a commitment to improving pedestrian safety at the Elm Square intersection. A video of the meeting and be viewed on AndoverTV.
Requests of Andover
Sidney's Rainbows has called for a "Vision Zero" style commitment from the Town with a goal of zero deaths and serious injuries from traffic crashes
A commitment from the Town to use the traffic study and RSA results to prioritize pedestrian safety over any anticipated driver inconveniences
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