Proposal would add faux brick crossing in Norwell Center

Crossing the street may soon be a little easier in Norwell Center.

In an effort to make the downtown area safer for pedestrians, town officials are considering installing faux bricks in the center's two crosswalks and making curb cuts in order to meet ADA compliance.

"We're trying to make Norwell Center a more pedestrian friendly place," Town Planner Todd Thomas said this week.

Changes could include the installation of synthetic asphalt bricks in the crosswalks and making three curb cuts where the crosswalks meet the sidewalks. Making the cuts would allow for the installation of small ramps that would connect the sidewalks to street level. The changes would make it easier for parents pushing strollers to cross the street, and make the area more accessible for handicapped individuals.

The Norwell Planning Board was expected to vote on the proposed changes at their meeting Wednesday night (June 13).

Town officials have already put the project out to bid, and the estimated cost of the work could be about $29,000.

The three curb cuts, which would be made in front of the Cushing Center, the Quik Pik and Cavanaro Consulting on Main Street in Norwell Center, are expected to cost $10,000 and the synthetic bricks have a price tag of $19,000.

The town’s Commission on Disabilities has pledged $1,400 to defray the cost of the project, but the lion's share would come out of the pedestrian improvement travel fund, which is funded by local developers, according to Thomas. Instead of building sidewalks in a small development that would connect to a main road that does not have sidewalks, developers can donate what they would have spent to the fund.

The last time the town used money from that fund was to build a pedestrian bridge across Jacob's Pond.

Officials expect that the proposed changes would improve public safety in the center.

Thomas said the look of the brickwork would make motorists more aware of the crosswalks, and the sound that vehicles make when driving over them would make drivers more aware that the town center is a pedestrian area and as a result would slow drivers down.

The speed limit in Norwell Center is 25 mph, but according to Thomas, that’s not strictly adhered to by drivers, many of whom use Route 123 as a cut through route between Scituate and Hanover.

Thomas said drivers "fly through" the downtown area. Besides making the area a safer place, the projects would also fulfill another town goal, since they are both in line with the town’s master plan.

The plan calls for a downtown that is easy for pedestrians to navigate. Norwell’s Community Preservation Committee, Thomas said, has recommended that both projects be approved.

Karen Johnson, a member of the Friends of Norwell Center, a group of concerned citizens who’s goal is to beautify the downtown area, is in favor of the projects. She sent out emails last week urging citizens to support the changes.

Besides improving the appearance of the town's center, Johnson said the crosswalks would also serve to slow motorists down.

"It will send out an audible note to people- a rumble of sound - so they realize they are in a town center."

Real brick or cobblestones could not be installed across the roadway, Johnson said, because Main Street is a state road and the stones would hamper plowing in the winter.

tfitzger@cnc.com