Along Upland Road, handmade signs urge drivers to slow down
Frustrations from residents spiked after a woman was hit by a car this summer while running with her dog.
Drivers on Upland Road noticed something new pop up this month.
Along the street, handmade signs appeared. One example showed a smiling snail, another simply said “20 mph is enough,” and a larger one got straight to the point with the words “Kill your speed, not a child.”
The messages were just a few of many signs made by residents who wanted drivers to slow down on a road they say is dangerous. Along with the signs, residents collected data, measuring the speed of cars before and after the signs went up.
Frustrations from residents spiked after a woman was hit by a car this summer while running with her dog along Upland Road. This was after multiple complaints were sent to the town about the street’s safety, and town-funded studies also warned about the road’s risks.
Police have documented 44 crashes in 20 years on Upland, which is less than a half-mile long.
Police Capt. Brian Goldman says they monitor Upland Road as they would any other street.
“When there is a crash we will increase police presence for a while,” he said. “But otherwise, it’s like anywhere else. If we hear a complaint, we go there.”
At the same time, the Department of Public Works is crafting a process for receiving reports of safety concerns and communicating its actions back to the public. That effort started shortly before the town passed a $27.5 million bond for road maintenance.
Kaite Chagnon, who lives on Upland Road, joined in with her neighbors, putting up a large skeleton in her yard with an extended stop sign that says, “Staaaahhhp.” Earlier this month, a car drove onto her family’s lawn.
“The driver had gone through the stop sign, up into our driveway and then, for some reason, drove across our grass, which is actually really hard to do from where he was,” Chagnon said. The driver was gone from their yard when police arrived. According to Chagnon, it’s not the first time it’s happened, and it makes her nervous to let her 8- and 10-year-olds play outside.
Nancy Kerr, an Upland Road resident for almost 40 years, agreed that the volume and speed of traffic are unsafe for kids.
“It’s a family neighborhood,” she said. “It really doesn’t need to be a speedway.”
The speed study
Linda Nieman is a co-coordinator for Mothers Out Front Acton, a parent organization that focuses on making Acton’s streets safer for walking and biking. She helped the residents of Upland Road, along with another neighborhood along Thoreau Street, conduct a small traffic study.
“These residents are so frustrated, they felt like they weren’t heard,” Nieman said. “It was a little bit of an outlet for them to participate and make their neighborhood safer.”
According to that study, only small speed changes were observed before and after the residents’ signs went up. Nieman said this means changes beyond road signs are needed.
The sign of another resident, Dave Schaefer, read, ‘Slow Down! You’re on Candid Camera.’ He agreed with Nieman in wanting changes to the road.
“I have two suggestions,”’ he said. “Don’t allow commercial vehicles on the road or put up at least three speed bumps.”
Chagnon also called for speed-reducing measures like speed bumps.
“I would rather have [speed bumps] so that I know my kids are safe and have a place to play,” she said. “And I can let them be kids and have some independence.”
Speed-bump issues
Cathcart said the town may explore speed bumps as a solution, but noted “they are not always the preferred traffic calming tool,” saying they can impede emergency vehicles, can be expensive to maintain, among other concerns.
“Application will ultimately depend on site-specific considerations,” he said.
Director of Public Works Director Alan Cathcart said the public works department and the public works commission are working on ways to better communicate with the town on safety complaints and projects.
Part of that effort is a public forum on October 28 with the public works commission and the Select Board.
“It’s basically an opportunity to explain to people that we’ve got some funding and to remind them what the funding is for,” Cathcart said. “Because it includes some allowance for some safety improvements that we haven’t had funds for.”
He added, “What’s really important is we don’t have funding for everything that’s on the list, so there needs to be prioritization.”
Cathcart said the forum is only a start, and more ways to check in on complaints should be coming soon, such as a dedicated website that public works is exploring.
Chagnon hopes the forum translates into results.
“I’m hoping they actually hear the ideas and not write it off as just neighbors being whiny about their streets,” she said. “This is a real safety concern.”
