Pedestrian safety must be improved
Many thanks to Chris Churchill for his column on the many dangers to pedestrians, especially along routes 9 and 2 near the Latham Circle (“No safe way around this hellscape,” March 24).
I am fortunate to have a car and the option to avoid walking in that area. But I recently took my car for service at a Route 9 dealer and chose to go walking along Route 9 instead of sitting masked and COVID -anxious in the dealer’s waiting room.
I headed north along Route 9, initially with a sidewalk. That might have felt safe were it not for the many entry/exit cuts for cars to access parking lots along the way. The way drivers entered and exited those lots made it clear that pedestrians were either invisible or nuisances to be frightened out of the way. Passing every parking lot felt like a life-or-death situation.
What’s more, I would not have considered crossing Route 9 without a helicopter or a police escort. After walking a half-mile or so, it was so uncomfortable that I turned east on a side street and chose to return south toward the dealer on Old Loudon Road, which even without a sidewalk felt safer. Plus the Latham Circle was not far ahead on Route 9, an absolute no-go area for pedestrians with any option to avoid it.
The problems for pedestrian safety along roads like those are many and complex. I have no overall solution in mind. But two things are clear: the Latham Circle area and many like it deserve serious study to find ways to mitigate the dangers to pedestrians (some obvious ways are to improve crosswalk markings at all parking lot cuts, combine lots to eliminate cuts, and install more numerous and safer paths for crossing Route 9); and we should remember that very few pedestrians in that area are walking by choice as I was.