Faith LaBossiere: Thank You For Re-Striping Charlestown’s Beach Roads
The following letter appeared in local newspapers and is shared with us here by the author Faith LaBossiere. Faith is Chair of the Charlestown Parks and Recreation Commission and a member of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance Steering Committee.
Charlestown’s Administrator and its Department of Public Works Director have moved to narrow the widths of the travel lanes on Charlestown Beach Road and plan to do the same on East and West Beach roads.
About six or seven years ago, Alan Arsenault, director of public works, re-striped Charlestown Beach Road, creating wider shoulders and narrower vehicle lanes. Nearly everyone applauded this improved environment for traffic calming, a known technique among traffic engineers.
Then, last year when the resurfacing was done, the striping company reverted to the “standard” striping, which enlarged the traffic lanes and left less shoulder area. Myself and others spoke up, pleading for narrower lanes and more shoulder area. Tuesday, July 27th I shouted for joy to see the town took the positive step of re-striping to create narrower travel lanes and more shoulder area. Walking on these roads now, my empirical observation is traffic was slower too.
Inquiring at the Town Hall, it appears West and East Beach roads will be re-striped also. These improvements should be maintained permanently.
The Town Council has already voted to survey Charlestown Beach Road from Matunuck Schoolhouse Road to the Breachway. The money to accomplish this task is in the budget and the survey will be done this year.
The survey is an important step in determining what is to be done to improve access to the town’s single most important asset: its beaches.
Understanding exactly what we own and exactly what structural change (widening) would entail is the really positive step.
Faith Phelan LaBossiere
August 17, 2021 @ 9:20 am
All of us who use the Charlestown Beach road appreciate the job Faith and Alan have done. I would like to make one more suggestion for the Public Works department: cut back the weeds on the sidewalks before and after the bridge. I have seen pedestrians walking on the road to avoid the weeds which are growing over the armco barriers.
August 10, 2021 @ 8:43 am
Thanks to Faith and to Alan for this help to so many road users: walkers, joggers, dog-walkers, cyclists etc. and to drivers to help them accommodate them all politely and civilly.