I’m in full agreement with the petition indicated in Scott Merzbach’s article regarding the student petition for safer streets. (“Petition calls for safer streets after student killed crossing Mass. Ave.,” March 4)
Since mid-March 2020, I’ve been visiting the UMass pond daily, usually in the late afternoon, and have driven through many crosswalks on the neighboring streets. The darker it gets, the more difficult it is to see pedestrians crossing. Although pedestrians, certainly, have the right of way, it’s not always easy to see them and they don’t always pay attention to oncoming traffic.
I’m convinced that the installation of flashing signal lights on several crosswalks on both Massachusetts Avenue and North Pleasant would go a long way in helping prevent accidents and injuries. This is not a novel idea since there is already one set of functioning signal lights on a North Pleasant Street crosswalk near the Bezanson Hall entrance to the UMass Fine Arts Center.
Downtown Amherst can also use such lights, especially at the crosswalk by the fire station. With cars parked on both sides of the street and cars driving north and south on adjacent lanes, it is not always possible to see anyone crossing from either side.
Amherst College has several sets of flashing crosswalk signals on Route 9 as does Mount Holyoke on Route 116. I’ve always found them to be most helpful in having me pay closer attention to the crosswalks and I hope UMass would consider installing signal lights on the streets adjoining the campus.
John Pierre Berwald
Amherst
