Bowman District Letter of Endorsement - Infrastructure Improvement Project
- Polly Kienle
- Closed on
- Target:
- Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation
- Region:
- United States of America
Huge thanks to all who signed this letter of endorsement. It was wonderful to speak at the Public Hearing on May 24 and know that we represented over 100 families. That support is now part of the public record and will be absolutely invaluable in ensuring that the Bowman district pedestrian infrastructure improvement project is completed as planned.
We families of the Bowman Elementary School district are writing to endorse the EOT-designed and planned pedestrian infrastructure improvement project in our district, now at the 75% planning phase. We are very excited about the two focal points of construction, the Follen Hill area and Pleasant St. where it meets Worthen Road East.
As parents of children attending Bowman, we have participated in the school’s Safe Routes to School program since its inception in 2006. Together, we have worked to reduce traffic congestion around the school by promoting walking, biking, scootering, carpooling, and increasing bus ridership. Some of us serve as neighborhood contacts, providing families with information about safe biking and walking routes to the school. Some of us have long accompanied groups of children walking or biking to school, sometimes under less-than-ideal conditions. Some parents have volunteered to teach pedestrian safety in Bowman classrooms, under the guidance of the MassRides program. Others of us have created carpools for our children, reducing traffic volume and emissions near the school.
Many of us have made extra efforts to enable our children to walk or carpool to school on Safe Routes to School event days, even though this may not be logistically possible for our families every day. In all this, we have been supported by Bowman teachers, who have painstakingly recorded data on the means of transportation our children use to get to school.
Through our experience with the Safe Routes to School program, we have learned that more families would walk, scooter, or bike to school if it were easier and safer to do so. When completed, the planned pedestrian infrastructure improvements will make a critical difference for many families in our community.
We eagerly anticipate the benefits of a flashing signal to those who now must cross Pleasant St. at a crosswalk frequently disregarded by motorists. Similarly, dozens of families will have the daily experience of passing safely on new sidewalks through the access needle’s eye through Dawes and Lantern. The planned sidewalk installations and crossing improvements at key points in the district will make the streets safer for all families on their way to and from school. Increasing numbers of our children will have more frequent opportunities to practice essential life skills as safety-conscious pedestrians and bicyclists, as more families join those walking to school. Overall, these planned improvements will significantly enhance our efforts to find alternative means of transportation to Bowman, reduce emissions around the school, and promote healthy lifestyles and a sense of community among Bowman families.
We are also aware that our neighbors will benefit from this project. As we walk and bicycle more frequently, we create visible community, ensuring that neighborhood streets are populated and friendly. In addition, many walkers and runners of all age groups will be able to move about the district more easily and more safely at all times of day. Older children in the district on their way to LHS, the town center, and the town recreation facilities will now have safe access to the Minuteman bicycle path.
Thank you for receiving our community letter of endorsement as a confirmation of Bowman district families’ confidence that this pedestrian infrastructure improvement project is very welcome in the community and will benefit all of us for years to come.
The Bowman District Letter of Endorsement - Infrastructure Improvement Project petition to Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation was written by Polly Kienle and is in the category City & Town Planning at GoPetition.