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A Woodstock committee coordinating with Vermont’s wider “Safe RoutesVT” program has put together a “Safe Routes to School Travel Plan” that is now ripe for local feedback.
The Safe Routes committee will be holding a public meeting for this purpose, on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at Town Hall. It precedes the normal Woodstock Planning Commission meeting at 7:30pm.
The overall purpose is to make pedestrian and bicycling routes as safe as possible for local students and the community. The plan includes suggestions ranging from additional crosswalks to technology to teach students about bicycle and pedestrian safety, among other ideas.
The lack of safe crossing areas and apparent speed of vehicles in some parts of Woodstock Village was one of the major concerns of Woodstock community member Hasse Halley who spoke of her concern to Village officials only weeks before she died last Fall after crossing the street in the area of the Rec Center Bridge and being hit by a pick-up truck.
After the tragedy, Village Trustee Bob Pear picked up the call for better safety measures as Woodstock Elementary School’s Karen White independently began coordinating the Safe Routes program.
The Town of Woodstock in recent years completed a review of safety measures, speeds and accident statistics which Police Chief Robbie Blish alluded to in a meeting last Fall. However, at that time, the executive summary of findings was not provided.
Parents and other community members are encouraged to read the new plan, which is posted on the Woodstock Town Website: http://www.townofwoodstock.org. Click on “Safe Routes to School Report” on the left of the page.
The report was compiled with the help of the Vermont Safe Routes to School Resource Center, which has a website: http://www.SafeRoutesVT.org.
For more information, please contact Woodstock Elementary School Principal Karen White at (802) 457-2522 or kwhite@wcsu.net.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 
Posted by Andrea Sand on April 2, 2012 at 11:24
Our residential street, High Street, is a very unsafe street for schoolchildren to use because so many drivers use it — among other reasons — as a cut-through street between routes 4 and 106. The street is too dangerous for kids (and other pedestrians) because there are too many cars and too many of them are going too fast — many of them well over the posted speed limit. This is particularly the case during the morning rush hour of Woodstock Inn employees hurrying to work, parents in a rush as they drive their kids to Woodstock Elementary School, and the many local contractors in large pick-up trucks zooming down the street.
A great solution would be to prohibit High Street to through traffic. Limit travel on the street to High Street residents only and it would be a very safe street for children to walk to school on.
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Posted by Bob Pear on April 2, 2012 at 19:52
Good Input, Andrea. High Street is a SRTS route. This would also increase safety on Cross St, also included in SRTS, for those kids coming from Maple and Golf. Ironically, much of the traffic you have noted is the parents ferrying their kids to and from the elementary school. Although I haven’t seen too many of these folks traveling over the speed limit of 25 MPH, I would like to point out that past and present police chiefs both have expressed that any speed over 15 MPH on High St is unsafe. We should also understand that if you are the car in front, and you are going 15 MPH, nobody behind you will be going any faster. That is something we all can do for safety’s sake. Hope you can be there with your input on April 4.
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Posted by Julia Carlisle on April 2, 2012 at 20:04
I’ve always thought the question for anyone driving High St. should be “If my kid, grandma, or dog stepped suddenly into my path would I be able to stop in time?” We need the help of the Woodstock Inn communicating High Street safety issues to its employees (drive more carefully!) And also to the WES parents in a hurry. That hurry is a problem for your neighbors who fear being squashed at every blind section of High Street.
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Posted by Ann on April 3, 2012 at 20:44
This is an important project for the whole community. Whether you walk, ride, or are concerned about speed…Please take some time to read the Safe Routes to School plan on the town website and attend the meeting tomorrow. Making our town a safer place for walkers and bikers is a good thing.
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Posted by Bob Pear on April 4, 2012 at 06:38
Good point, Ann. This project has identified routes on sections of River St, Church St, South St, School St, across the Green, across Vail Field, High St, Cross St and even Mt Peg Rd as the “most used” routes that our kids follow on their way to school. It includes a large part of our Village, and as we focus on and succeed in making those routes safer for our kids and everyone, we can then build on that success and experience to include our entire Village.
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Posted by Corwin Sharp on April 4, 2012 at 15:09
I remember discussing the speed limit on High Street with our former police chief some years ago. I had suggested that we officially lower the speed limit to 15 MPH and enforce it. Unfortunately, as I understand it al least, the State of VT sets the official speed limits for such routes as highways (non-federal), secondary roads, and city/village streets and the “official” State speed limit for city/village residential streets is 25 MPH In other words, the 15MPH sign is unenforceable and hence meaningless. We must find another way to control speeders on our village streets. For High Street, the “No Through Traffic” idea could possibly work but our police department must enforce the change if enacted.
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Posted by Julia Carlisle on April 4, 2012 at 15:33
Yes, Corwin, we “went around the block” awhile back and were told that the official speed limit CANNOT be reduced on High Street…however ridiculous that is. So, ignoring the actual fact of whether one is or is not going below the speed limit, it is simply a question of common sense: At the speed one is going, can one stop in time to avoid injury to life.
Woodstock officials, have, in the past indicated they couldn’t possibly shut down High Street to routine traffic, especially during peak summer tourist season when everyone wants to avoid downtown traffic via the High Street “short-cut”.
We here at WEB think the Village COULD handle a change to the High Street “through-way” to the betterment and safety of ALL. High Street, Cross Street, Golf Avenue is actually one of the few neighborhoods in Woodstock inhabited by full-time, year-round individuals and families. It is not a neighborhood of second homes, for the most part, empty of inhabitants. It is a community of hard-working people whose safety we should want to protect.
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Posted by Nancy Hoblin on April 4, 2012 at 16:42
Excellent points Julia and Corwin. Frankly I doubt the powers that be will hear you or make any move at all to accomodate the children or the residents. It is apparently fine that texting/cell phone talking high school kids whiz through totally unaware of where they are – not to mention all the other parents/employees/South Woodstockers etc who put the pedal to the metal coming up the hill from 4. I don’t know about you but I have no desire to experiment in finding out what speed a human can survive being hit by a car. Perhaps now that we have a new police chief someone can get inventive and solve some problems?
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Posted by Bob Pear on April 5, 2012 at 16:22
Yes, but it takes a village.
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