Residents Say Planned Highland and Sinclair Crosswalk Could be Dangerous

The Town Council plans to continue the current plans for placement of despite objections from a couple who live in the path of the new crosswalk.

Brian and Karen Karnofsky came before the Council Tuesday evening to request the planned crosswalk be moved from in front of their driveway. Currently there is no crosswalk across Highland at the intersection. One is planned for in front of the Karnofsky residence, which will cause a slight relocation of a utility pole to accommodate the crosswalk. The utility pole is one of the main concerns raised by the Karnofskys. The intersection is a popular walking route for students at Franklin Elementary School.

The Karnofskys said the new utility pole will be a visual obstruction for cars exiting their driveway and will prevent them and other drivers leaving the driveway from accurately seeing all children crossing in the proposed crosswalk. To demonstrate their point, the couple submitted photos to the Council showing a simulated pole—in the form of a rake in an orange cone—along with a controlled experiment of children crossing the street while Mrs. Karnofsky backed out of the driveway. The children crossed during a non-busy time with a team of parents and teenagers assisting to keep traffic away from the experiment and alerting Mrs. Karnofsky to the location of the children while she was backing up.

"We feel the proposed location of the crosswalk is unsafe and could have tragic consequences," Mr. Karnofsky said. "What if a child is in the blind spot?"

Mrs. Karnofsky stressed that the couple does not have a problem with the crosswalk being near their house, noting the locations they have proposed are next to their house as well. She said the concern is the safety with regards to the utility pole and cars backing out of their driveway. She cited federal transportation safety statistics regarding the amount of juvenile pedestrian fatalities related to cars backing out of driveways and children walking to school.

The couple brought up the issues on the other side of the street including a second utility pole which could cause a child to lean out into the street to see if a car is coming if they are crossing at a new crosswalk.

The Council reviewed the photos submitted by the couple but chose to keep the new crosswalk in the already determined spot. Councilman Mark Ciarrocca, the chairman of the Council's public safety committee, said a study was conducted by town staff in order to determine the best spot for the crosswalk. This included having Town Adminstrator Jim Gildea and Town Engineer Kris McAloon visit the intersection, which Ciarrocca did as well.

The visits determined the location in front of the Karnofsky residence was the best spot. The family's driveway presently is a location where many students cross on the way to Franklin and the proposed crosswalk would keep students on the same side of the street as Franklin. Ciarrocca said under the Karnofsky plan, students would still likely cross in front of the house and ignore the new crosswalk, citing the crosswalk on Clark Street in front of the YMCA, where many patrons are spotted crossing several feet down the street from the crosswalk.

"The biggest concern for us is the children down your driveway and crossing at the intersection," Ciarrocca said.

The Karnofskys' objected to the town response, saying that McAloon did not see the exact conditions with the simulated pole and did not get a good idea of the potential danger from the proposed relocation of the utility pole. They also questioned if McAloon received a good idea of the number of students using the intersection before and after school. Ciarrocca said that town officials did study the intersection at several times in order to develop an action plan.

"The most dangerous crossing point in the neighborhood is where they are putting the crosswalk," Mr. Karnofsky said.

Councilman Frank Arena said he visited the intersection during the morning school rush and he observed six of the seven parents during this time using the Karnofskys' driveway as a "de facto crosswalk."

Mrs. Karnofsky objected to Ciarrocca's comparisons to the crosswalk in front of the Y, saying the Clark Street intersection is used by adults and children being guided by adults, while pre teens would use the proposed Highland and Sinclair crosswalk. In an interview following the meeting, the couple said they believe the students can be taught to cross at the new crosswalk and then cross to the correct side of Sinclair with the crossing guard at the intersection with Lawrence Avenue.

In addition, the couple said that there may be some students who choose to continue to cross in front of their house, but it would be less than if the crosswalk was in front of their house. They also stressed that the utility pole would not be placed in front of their house in that case and they would not have an obstructed view of the students.

"Your rationale that kids will do it anyway does not hold up," Brian Karnofsky said.

Mr. Karnofsky and Ciarrocca also had a disagreement over the amount of concern that has been shown in the neighborhood regarding the crosswalk. Mr. Karnofsky said he knows of residents who do not want it in the proposed location, while Ciarrocca said the town has received little comment from the neighborhood on this.

Following the meeting, Councilman Sal Caruana, who represents the neighborhood where the Karnofskys live, had a public conversation in the Council chamber with the Karnofskys, which attracted several on-lookers including Arena, First Ward Democratic Council nominee Janice Siegel and Councilmen Dave Haas. During this conversation, Caruana said he had also reviewed the placement of the crosswalk and finds it to be the best spot, reiterating Ciarrocca's earlier comments that students could continue to use the Karnofskys' driveway to cross, if the crosswalk is moved across the street.

"We know if we put the crosswalk across the street, they will continue to use your driveway, Caruana said. "We are trying to protect them."

Caruana also explained that the Council relies on the safety professionals in making the decision on where to place a new crosswalk.'

"We have a bigger issue of rejecting the advice of our professionals, a legal issue," Caruana said. "I trust the people who do this for us."

Caruana also asked the couple if it would be possible for them to back into their driveway, which would allow them to exit the driveway without backing up. He said many of the residents on East Dudley Avenue, where he lives, do this to avoid the busy sidewalk. The Karnofskys said it would not be possible based on the angle of their driveway and that they should not be forced to back into their driveway.

The Karnofskys' plan to continue to research ways to block the new crosswalk, including possibly reaching out to state transportation officials on the matter.  During a press availability following the meeting, they did question the procedure used to determine this and what they describe as a lack of communication from the town to the residents of the neighborhood.

"Even before we figure out all the different things they've decided," Mr. Karnofsky said. "How is that any type of way to run this government?"