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DEDHAM —
Ali Koushan says he’s lost customers because of the dangerous crosswalk in front of Café Video Paradiso – and strongly supports putting in a new traffic signal at the intersection of High Street and Eastern Avenue.
“That’s what I’ve been saying since I walked in here 12 years ago – this has to get a traffic light,” said Koushan, the café’s owner.
Two cars sped by on High Street as he talked. “Look at these – none of these people even slow down,” he said. “Boom.”
Fixing that intersection – and the main one at High and Washington streets – were the top concerns of several Dedham Square businesspeople this week, as the town held a public hearing on the proposed Dedham Square improvement project, which would also include streetscape amenities, benches, and period lighting for the historic downtown.
Kristine Sivacek of Heart of the Square said she’s all for a new traffic light at High and Eastern, though she doesn’t know if installing one will solve the many car honks and screeches she hears during the day.
“People just come rippling around the corner, so I stop and look” when crossing, Sivacek said. “You always should be cautious, but you have to pay so much attention. You can’t just walk out and expect people to stop.”
Terry Strauss, the owner of Dedham Travel Agency, said adding the traffic light in that part of the Square would be a deterrent to customers. “I don’t think it would fit the character over here. It’s not wide enough. Keep it more quaint,” Strauss said.
But a raised crosswalk “would help out a lot, and that wouldn’t cheapen the place,” she said, also suggesting some tasteful speed bumps at the corner.
Strauss said lanterns and brick sidewalks would be assets to the Square, adding: “The crosswalks in brick would be really nice.”
Koushan said the crosswalk across High Street in front of his café-cum-video store is “wide open” but doesn’t need to be, and suggested extending the sidewalk. Indeed, one major feature of the proposed plan is to create significantly shorter crosswalks.
Koushan said his only concern about construction “is it’s going to kill business again,” after Square merchants dealt with the Providence Highway bridge project for four years.
Project planner Randy Collins said the BETA Group will work to limit disruptions during construction, drawing up contracts that ensure access is maintained to storefronts at all times, for example.
Ali Koushan says he’s lost customers because of the dangerous crosswalk in front of Café Video Paradiso – and strongly supports putting in a new traffic signal at the intersection of High Street and Eastern Avenue.
“That’s what I’ve been saying since I walked in here 12 years ago – this has to get a traffic light,” said Koushan, the café’s owner.
Two cars sped by on High Street as he talked. “Look at these – none of these people even slow down,” he said. “Boom.”
Fixing that intersection – and the main one at High and Washington streets – were the top concerns of several Dedham Square businesspeople this week, as the town held a public hearing on the proposed Dedham Square improvement project, which would also include streetscape amenities, benches, and period lighting for the historic downtown.
Kristine Sivacek of Heart of the Square said she’s all for a new traffic light at High and Eastern, though she doesn’t know if installing one will solve the many car honks and screeches she hears during the day.
“People just come rippling around the corner, so I stop and look” when crossing, Sivacek said. “You always should be cautious, but you have to pay so much attention. You can’t just walk out and expect people to stop.”
Terry Strauss, the owner of Dedham Travel Agency, said adding the traffic light in that part of the Square would be a deterrent to customers. “I don’t think it would fit the character over here. It’s not wide enough. Keep it more quaint,” Strauss said.
But a raised crosswalk “would help out a lot, and that wouldn’t cheapen the place,” she said, also suggesting some tasteful speed bumps at the corner.
Strauss said lanterns and brick sidewalks would be assets to the Square, adding: “The crosswalks in brick would be really nice.”
Koushan said the crosswalk across High Street in front of his café-cum-video store is “wide open” but doesn’t need to be, and suggested extending the sidewalk. Indeed, one major feature of the proposed plan is to create significantly shorter crosswalks.
Koushan said his only concern about construction “is it’s going to kill business again,” after Square merchants dealt with the Providence Highway bridge project for four years.
Project planner Randy Collins said the BETA Group will work to limit disruptions during construction, drawing up contracts that ensure access is maintained to storefronts at all times, for example.
Over at Dedham House of Pizza, co-owner Maria Panagopoulos called the central intersection at High and Washington streets “a nightmare.”
“When the light turns red (or) yellow, plenty of times the cars are still going straight through,” Panagopoulos said. “They’re in a rush to come home, and sometimes people in the second lane, when they’re rushing through the light, it looks like they’re going to come up on the sidewalk.”
Panagopoulos said the senior bus stop around the corner on High Street can be problematic, and suggested moving it to in front of CVS instead. “It’s a tight squeeze here in the Square,” she summed up.
For Matt Donovan of Dedham Bike & Leather Company, the project proposals “are all much-needed changes” that will benefit everybody.
Before Dedham Square Circle, “there was nothing going on here in the center of town to better it” as work was done on Route 1 and elsewhere, Donovan noted.
“To me, changing the banners they have hanging here outside on the light poles ain’t cutting it,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming. And I think especially now with Legacy Place, it’s really important that people get behind these ideas and help see them to fruition.”
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
