A crosswalk art project in Milton aims to get drivers to slow down while encouraging more walking and biking around town.
Councilwoman Randi Meredith is Chair of the Traffic Calming Advisory AD-HOC Committee tasked with finding ways to improve traffic safety.
She says she saw a photo of a flowered crosswalk elsewhere and applied for a $12,500 grant to create 12 similar crosswalks across town.
“We found 12 artists and each one is done by a different artist," Meredith says. "And for our painting days, we’ve had between five and 15 volunteers at each crosswalk. So it’s been a really popular day-time activity for a lot of our retirees.”
And she says they’re already having an effect.
“People didn’t just slow down because we were painting," Meredith says. "Since then people have slowed down to see the crosswalks, and because they’re more aware, we have a lot of mid-block crosswalks, they’re more aware of where those are.”
Two of the remaining crosswalks will be at the entrance to Village Center Blvd and in front of the Dogfish Head Tasting Room. Those painting days are Tuesday May 9 and Thursday May 11 respectively.
Another - near the police station - gets painted May 31, and the last by Milton Elementary will be created on a future weekend.
Meredith says residents can just show up on painting day around 10 a.m. to help out.
