The following is a letter from Carol Dietz, Chair of the Portsmouth Town Center Committee, who worked with the RI DOT to develop the Town Center plan. There's a critical meeting with DOT on June 26, and I urge everyone to read Carol's post, look at the plan, and come to the meeting to press the DOT for action.

The recent tragedy on East Main Road in Portsmouth in which a high school freshman was seriously injured once again points out that something must be done to calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety in the area that runs from Town Hall to the Town Library and includes several shops and senior citizen housing complexes. But getting it done will take the concerted effort of Portsmouth citizens, town officials, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

A few years ago town residents formed a Town Center Committee and took a look at this section of East Main Road with state and national experts to see what could be done to create “a sense of place.” To no one’s surprise high traffic volumes and speed were identified as big barriers to creating a walkable town center. Traffic and planning experts believe the traffic could be tamed by redesigning the road. Working with Portsmouth residents, they came up with a Town Center plan that included traffic calming measures such as roundabouts, landscaped medians, and enhanced pedestrian crosswalks, thus creating a walkable community.

In communities across the country, traffic calming has been proven successful on heavily traveled, four lane streets such as East Main Road. Speeds, accidents and bodily injuries have been dramatically reduced. And, business districts have become healthier as well.

The Town Center Plan, developed in collaboration with state transportation officials, aims to slow speeds on East Main Road by changing the character of the road. It proposed three roundabouts, one at Town Hall, one at the intersection at Clements Market and a third in between. The roundabouts will keep traffic moving rather than creating the huge backup of stopped traffic now experienced at the one existing traffic signal.

Without roundabouts it’s likely more traffic signals will be added at the Brooks/FoodWorks areas as that property is developed, as well as in front of Town Hall. As more traffic signals are added, driver frustration rises and inevitably people drive faster to avoid red lights. The backup from three signals and the desire of most motorists to quickly “get to” the next light so they can “get through” the area would only make the situation worse! Three roundabouts, on the other hand, will keep traffic moving and introduce at least three separate areas that are designed so that a motorist can’t go any faster than 25 mph and pedestrians can cross safely.

Another feature of the Town Center Plan is a landscaped median that separates vehicles traveling in different directions. A median with plantings visually encloses the road, and has been shown to slow down traffic even when a road is still as straight and as wide as before there was landscaping. Creating a median also reduces the number of drivers making left turns and thus reduces accidents.

Pedestrians who cross East Main Rd today do so at considerable risk. There are no crosswalks in slow or stopped traffic areas. Traffic never stops at the intersection in front of Clements Market and, if it did, there would be huge backups as all four traffic signals brought motorists to a complete stop so a pedestrian could safely cross in any of four directions! Instead, three crosswalks are now placed away from that intersection, where crossing is least expected and just where the traffic is speeding up on the straightaway or are at peak speed when traveling down the hill.

Everyone is saying we need to do something NOW. The Town Center Project is the answer, but that will take some time before it will happen. A pedestrian activated stoplight placed somewhere between the bottom of Quaker Hill and the intersection at Clements is the best temporary solution. However, that is just a Band-Aid and not a solution to the overall problem. To have a walkable community we need to do what RIDOT has proposed...change the character of the road. To do this we need the support of the whole community. We need to tell our Legislators that this is a priority!

A public meeting with Rhode Island DOT, the Town of Portsmouth, and the Portsmouth Town Center Committee will be held on June 26 at the Portsmouth High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. to talk about the Town Center plan and proposed design changes to East Main Road. This is your chance to be heard...please come!

Carol A. Dietz
Chairperson
Portsmouth Town Center Committee