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09/04/2018 04:45 PMFollowing heated debates over the likes of the Shoreline Greenway Trail (SGT), the Nut Plains Pathway, and pedestrian safety in general, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) established the Guilford Safe Streets Mobility Task Force in April to ensure a more orderly approach to similar efforts. With summer coming to a close, the BOS is ready to ask for funding for the committee so committee work can begin.
The committee is tasked with taking a broad look at pedestrian safety and transportation across the whole town. Plans for the committee were set in motion after the Nut Plains and SGT debates and after numerous residents came forward with petitions earlier this year asking for sidewalks in certain areas in town. First Selectman Matt Hoey said the plan will address all concerns raised and will focus on pedestrian safety including walking, cycling, and pushing of strollers, as well as concerns related to cars such as transportation and traffic-calming solutions.
Hoey recently said he and the BOS plan to go to the Board of Finance (BOF) in the coming weeks to ask for some funds to support the committee’s work.
“In September, we are going to the BOF officially for an appropriate to fund the possible facilitator and/or consultant and/or demonstration projects,” he said. “We will be making an official request to the BOF at their September meeting.”
Hoey said at least 15 people have volunteered for the committee. While the charge of the committee is not yet set in stone, he said the goal is for the committee to be large enough so that it can look at various issues and so that all opinions have equal representation.
“We are looking to get funding before we go ahead with the charge,” he said.
Back in April, Hoey said he wants to find residents who might have a useful talent such as civil engineers or architects who might be willing to sit on the committee. Hoey said town staff such as the police, town planner, and town engineer will be made available to the committee for when input is needed.
BOS members agreed this taskforce is an important way to look at the whole issues and not get bogged down in heated debates over particular components like SGT.
“The reality is we are not going to make everybody happy and there are some decisions that are going to come out of this taskforce that are not going to met with the full acceptance of many of our friends and neighbors, but on the other hand we hope that many of those recommendations do meet the general acceptance of the town,” Hoey said previously.
In a letter sent to the Courier, Guilford team members of the SGT Board Kristen D’Souza and Pam Bisbee Simonds offered the following statement: “In Guilford, we look forward to the plans of the new Safe Streets Mobility Task Force, a very important initiative for Guilford to become a safer, more bicycle/pedestrian friendly and connected town.”