Officials want to hear views of traffic issues in their neighborhoods and beyond

Traffic concerns have flooded into Town Council and Town Hall inboxes over the past year, about everywhere from High Hawk and Division Road to Maplewood Drive and Middle Road, and others as well. Then too there is the perennial issue of Main Street and pedestrians. 

Answers can be challenging. Police can provide deterrents but East Greenwich doesn’t have enough police to cover all the areas of complaint. According to traffic experts, stop signs are not recommended to slow down traffic. Speed bumps and humps can work but the noise of cars and trucks passing over them can be annoying (Cedar Avenue residents, feel free to weigh in here). 

The town recently tried adding stripping to usually strip-free streets like High Hawk in an effort to slow cars in that neighborhood. The residents, however, there were not happy, saying the lines made the streets less safe for walkers (there are no sidewalks in High Hawk). 

What to do? The town is hoping collective wisdom will help guide efforts, starting with a virtual workshop Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. (Here’s the link: Town Council Meeting 2/2/22.) Members of the Town Council will be in attendance, along with Town Manager Andy Nota, Public Works Director Joe Duarte and traffic consultant Anna Novo.

“We encourage everyone’s participation,” said Nota via email. “We will be outlining a process in the normal course of business as to how we deal with such matters plus the use of best practices applied to resolve road/vehicle /pedestrian conflicts and possible enhancements.”

He said the reason for the meeting is to get the public’s input and “to talk through viable solutions, and why we can and can’t take certain actions in some scenarios.”