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The Dedham Transcript is crossing its fingers for a yes vote on the Dedham Square Improvement Project at Town Meeting on May 16.
Dedham Square is a town center that works with its unique locally-owned shops, gyms, restaurants and even a movie theater. It is a historic center to take pride in. But with all these offerings, the Square isn’t safe for pedestrians and is a challenge to maneuver in a car. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to residents.
In 2010, a then 7-year-old Aidan Gordon understood there was a serious safety problem in the heart of his community.
Sitting on the park bench as the corner of Eastern Avenue and High Street, he stated the obvious problem with the crosswalk.
“Look at that thing. There’s no stop signs, no traffic lights, anything,” he told the Dedham Transcript in June 2010.
Aidan is the same Avery School second-grader that wrote a letter to Dedham Selectmen requesting a solution for the intersection in question, nothing that it is “dangerous for pedestrians and cars, ’cause cars can get into accidents, and pedestrians, particularly the elderly, and moms with strollers, can get hurt.”
Weeks later, a $4,000 “pedestrian refuge island” was installed to make the long crosswalk between Mocha Java and the Keystone Lot safer.
Aidan approved of the plan, but again, understood there needed to be a greater fix.
“It’s pretty good. It’s the best solution for now, for the time being until they actually put traffic lights there,” he told the Transcript.
Fast-forward to October 2010, the town celebrated a “historic moment for Dedham Square,” state Rep. Paul McMurtry said at a ceremony in the Square. That morning, the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki awarded Dedham a $1.3 million infrastructure grant that will allow the town to fund phase 1 of the Dedham Square improvement project and make traffic and streetscape upgrades downtown.
Amy Haelsen, the executive director of Dedham Square Circle, proclaimed that this grant award is “something that we’ve been dreaming about for a long time.”
I appeared then that the Dedham Square improvement project was moving full steam ahead with the full support of selectmen and the town. Then Town Meeting season hit.
Under Article 4 Town Meeting members are being asked to appropriate $6.1 million for the Dedham Square improvement project. On Monday, May 9, the state announced it will award the town $400,000 more toward the grant pending Town Meeting approval of Article 4. This brings the total to $1.7 million that will be reimbursed to the town for the Dedham Square Improvement project, and only this project. This plan will not increase property taxes because it isn’t going to be funded through debt exclusion.
The Dedham Transcript is crossing its fingers for a yes vote on the Dedham Square Improvement Project at Town Meeting on May 16.
Dedham Square is a town center that works with its unique locally-owned shops, gyms, restaurants and even a movie theater. It is a historic center to take pride in. But with all these offerings, the Square isn’t safe for pedestrians and is a challenge to maneuver in a car. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to residents.
In 2010, a then 7-year-old Aidan Gordon understood there was a serious safety problem in the heart of his community.
Sitting on the park bench as the corner of Eastern Avenue and High Street, he stated the obvious problem with the crosswalk.
“Look at that thing. There’s no stop signs, no traffic lights, anything,” he told the Dedham Transcript in June 2010.
Aidan is the same Avery School second-grader that wrote a letter to Dedham Selectmen requesting a solution for the intersection in question, nothing that it is “dangerous for pedestrians and cars, ’cause cars can get into accidents, and pedestrians, particularly the elderly, and moms with strollers, can get hurt.”
Weeks later, a $4,000 “pedestrian refuge island” was installed to make the long crosswalk between Mocha Java and the Keystone Lot safer.
Aidan approved of the plan, but again, understood there needed to be a greater fix.
“It’s pretty good. It’s the best solution for now, for the time being until they actually put traffic lights there,” he told the Transcript.
Fast-forward to October 2010, the town celebrated a “historic moment for Dedham Square,” state Rep. Paul McMurtry said at a ceremony in the Square. That morning, the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki awarded Dedham a $1.3 million infrastructure grant that will allow the town to fund phase 1 of the Dedham Square improvement project and make traffic and streetscape upgrades downtown.
Amy Haelsen, the executive director of Dedham Square Circle, proclaimed that this grant award is “something that we’ve been dreaming about for a long time.”
I appeared then that the Dedham Square improvement project was moving full steam ahead with the full support of selectmen and the town. Then Town Meeting season hit.
Under Article 4 Town Meeting members are being asked to appropriate $6.1 million for the Dedham Square improvement project. On Monday, May 9, the state announced it will award the town $400,000 more toward the grant pending Town Meeting approval of Article 4. This brings the total to $1.7 million that will be reimbursed to the town for the Dedham Square Improvement project, and only this project. This plan will not increase property taxes because it isn’t going to be funded through debt exclusion.
The Dedham Square project includes changes to parking lots; the installation of traffic signals, new crosswalks, the installation of handicap accessible ramps, fixing crumbling sidewalks, upgrading streetlights and this is just the start of a very long list of improvements that residents have been requesting for years.
But just like with all projects, there is opposition. The argument has been made, at several public meetings including mini-Town Meeting, that the money should be spent elsewhere. The opposition argues the police station needs to be renovated and that the seniors are still without a senior center. All valid arguments, but right now, at this point in time, Dedham has the funding for this specific project. But right now we have $1.7 million from the state to pay for Dedham Square. So then the questions becomes, if the state is willing to support this project. Why can’t Dedham?
At its core the Dedham Square improvement project is a plan for safety.
Attempting to maneuver a left turn at the “old-fashioned” traffic signal at Washington and High Street, a non-Dedham resident remarked “this isn’t safe they should fix this.” The feeling is the same among Dedhamites.
Willow Street resident Jessica Porter supports the project, why? Because of the pedestrian safety factor.
“I support it personally because my daughter walks through the Square to and from middle school and soccer two to four times a day,” Porter said at mini-Town Meeting, referring to how dangerous it is to cross at Mocha Java. The same intersection Aidan fought to fix in 2010.
Porter said she has a fear that this won’t be approved.
“And the cost is going to be tremendous, not only in terms of public safety and in terms of future economic development, but for Dedham’s chances to get future development grants if the town refuses this one,” she said. If she were a grantee, Porter said, “I would be very hesitant to award Dedham a grant in the future if we can’t have a citizenry which is committed enough to approve a project such as this one.”
The Dedham Square Improvement Project will not only improve the aesthetics of the Square but could save a life.
Seven-year-old Aidan Gordon understood this. Let’s hope Dedham does too. The Dedham Transcript encourages residents to contact their Town Meeting members and ask them to vote in favor of the Dedham Square Improvement Project.
