Harvard schools will reopen next week, and once again Mass. Ave. and the town center will be crowded with buses, cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians, especially during morning and midafternoon pickup and drop-off times at the Hildreth Elementary and Bromfield schools, not to mention afternoon athletic practices and contests.
Two words stood out when we asked police for advice and researched what the AAA, National Safety Council, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to say about safe driving when school’s in session: Slow down. This advice is particularly apt for drivers in the safety zone that extends along Mass. Ave. from the General Store and the intersection with Still River Road to the Bromfield House and the intersection with Bolton Road. The presence of a flashing yellow light at each end of that zone leaves the impression that a 20-mph speed limit is in effect there only during school hours. But as we note in our safe driving piece this week, those lights are trumped by permanent 20-mph signs that precede them.
No road is more heavily used by or less friendly to pedestrians, and although the Town Center Transportation Committee is exploring ways to calm traffic and add sidewalks, such solutions are far in the future. For now, the best means of protecting our kids and others in the most vibrant part of Harvard is to heed the advice of our officers and safety experts: Take it slow.
