Pace Car program update
August 31 ,2009
Issue Tracker: Slowing down the pace on Northampton
city streets
By Daily Hampshire Gazette
By Daily Hampshire Gazette
THE ISSUE: A citizen-based initiative implemented
by the Transportation and Parking Commission, the
Northampton Pace Car Program enlists the support of
local volunteers who pledge to be safe and
courteous drivers, obey legal speed limits and act
as "rolling speed bumps" for other area motorists.
The program seeks to make city roadways safer by
slowing traffic. Has it succeeded?
STORY SO FAR: In June 2006, members of the city's Transportation and Parking Commission began asking for local volunteers to sign up for their Pace Car Program. Spearheaded by commission Chairman David J. Narkewicz, the program was meant to be an inexpensive way to make area roadways safer for motorists and pedestrians by allowing area residents to take control of traffic safety issues in their neighborhoods.
Driving their own cars and trucks, city residents participating in the initiative display a yellow-and-black triangular sticker on their vehicles identifying them as pace-car drivers. Although the program had been proved successful in a handful of cities and towns nationwide, including Palo Alto, Calif. and Salt Lake City, Utah, Narkewicz said city officials' initial concerns were that the pace-car drivers would inspire road rage in motorists. So far, no such incidents have been reported.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Thanks to a recently finalized document about traffic-calming measures, Narkewicz said commission members have seen a spike in the number of area motorists enlisting in the pace-car program. A joint public hearing on a Draft Northampton Traffic Calming Program was held between the commission and the Board of Public Works in 2007 to gather additional input. In September 2008, it was finalized and following unanimous votes of adoption by both groups was sent to City Council for review and potential endorsement.
The document, available on the city's Web site - www.northamptonma.gov [1] - focuses on building or retrofitting roadways with certain features that induce drivers to slow down and pay closer attention to their surroundings. The document has spurred enrollment in the program to grow to more than 250 participants, Narkewicz said.
Narkewicz said, "We had an initial burst of people signing up to be pace cars when we first started the program and now more and more people are learning about it through the traffic-calming program.
As for the prospect of increased road-rage incidents, Narkewicz said he has had a sticker on his car since the program began and he has yet to be confronted for driving safely. "I'm not aware that there has been any road rage as a result of this," Narkewicz said. He added that residents have told him the program has made their neighborhoods feel safer.
FINE PRINT: Residents interested in submitting a traffic-calming request can do so by sending them to the Transportation and Parking Commission, 210 Main St., Room 18, Northampton, 01060. A minimum of one resident signature is required on a submitted request and there is additional space for multiple signatures. A copy of the form is available online at www.northamptonma.gov/tpc [2].
VERBATIM: "This program is not an expensive engineering thing, it is a very simple straightforward way to calm traffic, but in its simplicity it is very powerful because it allows individual citizens to come forward and make a public statement by saying, #I want to contribute positively to the overall safety and bike and pedestrian friendliness of the city.'"
- Transportation and Parking Commission Chairman David J. Narkewicz
WHAT'S AHEAD: According to the draft, the city will likely have more potential traffic-calming projects, as funding and staff to implement them become available. To focus on the most pressing traffic problems, the commission will create a priority ranking of traffic projects based on a set of objective, needs-driven criteria.
The priority list, the document says, will analyze pace-car participation, pedestrian activity, speeding, regularity of crashes and neighborhood support. Using those findings, the commission will submit a formal request to the city's Capital Improvement Program for funding, which will then have to be authorized by City Council.
RESOURCES: Northamptonma.gov/pacecar; www.northamptonma.gov/tpc/trafficcalming [3].
Issue Tracker is a Monday feature of the Gazette. To suggest issues, call Phoebe Mitchell at 585-5249 or email her at pmitchell@gazettenet.com [4].
STORY SO FAR: In June 2006, members of the city's Transportation and Parking Commission began asking for local volunteers to sign up for their Pace Car Program. Spearheaded by commission Chairman David J. Narkewicz, the program was meant to be an inexpensive way to make area roadways safer for motorists and pedestrians by allowing area residents to take control of traffic safety issues in their neighborhoods.
Driving their own cars and trucks, city residents participating in the initiative display a yellow-and-black triangular sticker on their vehicles identifying them as pace-car drivers. Although the program had been proved successful in a handful of cities and towns nationwide, including Palo Alto, Calif. and Salt Lake City, Utah, Narkewicz said city officials' initial concerns were that the pace-car drivers would inspire road rage in motorists. So far, no such incidents have been reported.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Thanks to a recently finalized document about traffic-calming measures, Narkewicz said commission members have seen a spike in the number of area motorists enlisting in the pace-car program. A joint public hearing on a Draft Northampton Traffic Calming Program was held between the commission and the Board of Public Works in 2007 to gather additional input. In September 2008, it was finalized and following unanimous votes of adoption by both groups was sent to City Council for review and potential endorsement.
The document, available on the city's Web site - www.northamptonma.gov [1] - focuses on building or retrofitting roadways with certain features that induce drivers to slow down and pay closer attention to their surroundings. The document has spurred enrollment in the program to grow to more than 250 participants, Narkewicz said.
Narkewicz said, "We had an initial burst of people signing up to be pace cars when we first started the program and now more and more people are learning about it through the traffic-calming program.
As for the prospect of increased road-rage incidents, Narkewicz said he has had a sticker on his car since the program began and he has yet to be confronted for driving safely. "I'm not aware that there has been any road rage as a result of this," Narkewicz said. He added that residents have told him the program has made their neighborhoods feel safer.
FINE PRINT: Residents interested in submitting a traffic-calming request can do so by sending them to the Transportation and Parking Commission, 210 Main St., Room 18, Northampton, 01060. A minimum of one resident signature is required on a submitted request and there is additional space for multiple signatures. A copy of the form is available online at www.northamptonma.gov/tpc [2].
VERBATIM: "This program is not an expensive engineering thing, it is a very simple straightforward way to calm traffic, but in its simplicity it is very powerful because it allows individual citizens to come forward and make a public statement by saying, #I want to contribute positively to the overall safety and bike and pedestrian friendliness of the city.'"
- Transportation and Parking Commission Chairman David J. Narkewicz
WHAT'S AHEAD: According to the draft, the city will likely have more potential traffic-calming projects, as funding and staff to implement them become available. To focus on the most pressing traffic problems, the commission will create a priority ranking of traffic projects based on a set of objective, needs-driven criteria.
The priority list, the document says, will analyze pace-car participation, pedestrian activity, speeding, regularity of crashes and neighborhood support. Using those findings, the commission will submit a formal request to the city's Capital Improvement Program for funding, which will then have to be authorized by City Council.
RESOURCES: Northamptonma.gov/pacecar; www.northamptonma.gov/tpc/trafficcalming [3].
Issue Tracker is a Monday feature of the Gazette. To suggest issues, call Phoebe Mitchell at 585-5249 or email her at pmitchell@gazettenet.com [4].