The walk-signal @ Beacon & Washington is only 3-4 seconds and it definitely hasn't been fixed.

Christopher,

Thanks for being persistent in the service of improving public safety.

The City's Traffic Engineer just told me that he believes the City checked this signal and determined that it is working as intended. I think there is a legitimate case to be made that 5 seconds (the time span he said the signal is set to say WALK) is inadequate in front of the hospital.

Motor vehicles should be running a red light there or anywhere else; that sounds like another problem that needs to be addressed.

The City is monitoring the SeeClickFix website and should have a way to let you know their response to reporting an issue; if they do not reply, you can only infer that no one in CIty Hall read your posting. I have contacted the Mayor's Customer Service person and expect that he will call me back to discuss this.

Lois Levin, BIKE NEWTON Pres.

I omitted one essential word in the last post - I meant to say "Motor vehicles should NOT be running a red light there or anywhere else..."

With great respect for those trying to fix problems in Newton, this is a cross walk used by patients (some quite handicapped) and it lasts roughly 5 seconds with the signal showing "walk". Since the last cars coming and going on Washington are racing the yellow and cars are turning from the end of Beacon on to Washington, pedestrians' time to walk is often shaved by seconds more. It is not unusual to see handicapped people struggling to complete the transit with cars rushing past them. In short, while it may be functioning as intended according to the City's Traffic Engineer, it is not functioning in a manner that promotes safety for people crossing the street.

This appears to be a continuing and unresolved issue. Drivers speed at the intersection of Washington and Beacon Streets trying to avoid the red lights. Pedestrians are often caught in the middle when the five seconds are up and cars begin pouring through from one direction and others are racing to miss the red light in the other. Complaints to Newton City Hall are received politely but no one promises to do anything.

The "walk" signal is only the time given for people to start crossing, and there's no reason for it to be long unless there are so many people crossing that it takes a long time for them to get into the street. What should matter is the total time the signal is red (includes flashing "don't walk) Can anyone report what that is?

I was almost killed yesterday by an oncoming car in this crosswalk. Where can I call and complain? This crosswalk has become a serious issue for a number of pedestrians, both young and old.

Try the NPD.

The issue may not be the length of the signal. It looks like that intersection is set up for concurrent crossing (pedestrians cross with the green) Sometimes pedestrians are given a head start before the traffic gets the green. This tends to work best at intersections where there is high pedestrian demand (this one doesn't seem to fit that description) Cars are supposed to yield, but of course they tend not to, especially when there aren't large numbers of people crossing.

The timing may not be the issue. It looks like this is a concurrent crossing, set up so that pedestrians cross with the traffic on green (traffic is supposed to yield to pedestrians when turning) Concurrent crossing often have a leading pedestrian interval to give people a head start to get in the crosswalk before the traffic moves. It works well where there are many people crossing, but this isn't one of those places.

is this thing on?

I frequently walk to and from work at NWH and have almost been clipped several times by cars turning from beacon to washington - or cars running the light on wash from east to west. Also, just crossing is a challenge as the walk light is about 3 sec.

The walk cycle includes the flashing orange.