If you’ve made your way down Main Street lately, you’ve likely seen the series of newly installed “bump-outs” along both sides of the street and may be wondering ‘what that’s all about’?

They’re actually part of a multi-stage Main Street safety enhancement the City has been working on, including:

  • Flashing light pedestrian cross-walks;

  • Enhanced pedestrian and traffic signage;

  • Updated pavement markings;

  • Tree trimmings, and more

The bump-outs themselves are designed to increase ‘line of sight’ for vehicles entering Main Street from the side roads — If you’ve attempted to turn onto Main Street over the years from these side roads, you’ve likely experienced difficulty looking up-and-down the street for cross-traffic. This makes that much easier.

I know for myself, working on Main Street and walking up and down to the restaurants, Post Office, and other businesses each week, I do feel like vehicle traffic has improved over the last 3 years as these changes have been rolled out. Of course, there’s unfortunately still your occasional discourteous driver that isn’t paying heed, but by-and-large as I enter a crosswalk, I find drivers slowing and stopping for a safe crossing.

If you’re interested to see more on the changes, check out this presentation with pictures and descriptions, and of course, just let myself or the folks at DPW know if you have any questions.

Auto-generated description: A quiet street scene features a pedestrian crossing sign, a storefront, and a parked car under a partly cloudy sky.