The Speakers at Thursday's ceremony were to include Mayor Cianci, Councilwoman Nolan and CLF's Heart. Others, as well as traffic circles and neckdowns, will be in place soon. Moreover, the Elmwood project is notable for its inner-city location. Traffic calming is still more commonly seen in the suburbs. This poses a major safety risk.
Pedestrians account for a disproportionately high percentage of car crash fatalities in cities.
In Boston, New York, and San Francisco, for example, half the people killed in car crashes are pedestrians. In some city neighborhoods, streets and sidewalks are the only outdoor play areas for children. That alone would make it stand out. The eight-street area was selected for traffic calming because a disproportionate number of accidents have occurred there, in part because some drivers use the neighborhood as a speedway. Monitoring results obtained by the Elmwood Foundation, with assistance from CHisPA, substantiate that speeding and reckless driving are problems on these streets.