Chris Perry Column: Rules Of The Road
Chris Perry •
Generally speaking, I love surveys.
As long as they are legitimate and relatively short, I feel a sense of obligation to respond since I am still naive enough to think there is someone on the other end collating all the information.
Throughout the most recent political cycle, we were bombarded with surveys. After a while, I know one can become immune to them but there’s one local survey that might have slipped by that’s worth taking a look at because we all deal with the issue every day - especially during the summer months.
The survey was sponsored by Michael Burns, the town of Nantucket’s transportation program manager. Burns, who reports to the Nantucket Planning & Economic Development Commission (NP&EDC), recently sent out roughly 500 survey links via e-mail and another 20,000 plus via various social media platforms with the assistance of Hayley Cooke, Nantucket’s public outreach coordinator for the town’s Communication Office. The short survey of 15 questions - plus an additional eight demographic questions - deals specifically with traffic safety on Nantucket.
The current survey is part of a series of surveys, including one completed earlier this year, that dealt with “safe streets and roads and high Iijury areas” around the island. Working with Kittelson & Associates of Boston, that data was analyzed and presented to the NP&EDC as part of its Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
According to Cooke, “The current survey will close on 11/27. At that point, the information will be collated and eventually presented to the NP&EDC. After that, the information will be shared with the Select Board, Police, Fire, D.P.W. and the public.”
I prodded to get some early feedback but all Cooke would say is that “more females than males have responded to date - according to the demographics, the majority of responders are older than 45 and 100 percent of the completed surveys were in English…”
“Once we get all the analyzed information back, we want to come up with some countermeasures. The current survey focuses on safety and we want to update our master plan. Recently, there have been some examples of recommendations ultimately not supported by the public and we want to try and avoid that. Our approach is a data-driven approach and I hope the public first participates in the various surveys and then supports our recommendations to follow,” Burns said.
An example of what Burns is referring to is an unsuccessful attempt to install a “side path” along the south side of Old South Road. This recommendation was passed in 2018 as part of a Special Town Meeting but was later blocked by a citizen’s warrant article in 2021.
“Outside of the requirements outlined for the Richmond Development along Old South Road, there have been no other improvements. The data showed that starting at the rotary and running all the way out to the airport turn-off, in general, Old South Road is a stretch with a particularly high rate of accidents. We recommended a ‘side path’. It is wider than the traditional sidewalk and would connect businesses on the south side of the road. Our suggestions also included ‘pull-offs’ at bus stops, intersection improvements at Fairgrounds Road and Amelia Drive and other access improvements along the corridor,” Burns added.
“Ultimately, we could not get the public on board in the end.”
This is Burns’ second stint on Nantucket. Born in Houston, Texas, Nantucket’s transportation manager squeezed in three summers at the Hy-Line before graduating from Arizona State and eventually taking the transportation planner’s position on Nantucket in 2001. Burns resigned in 2020 and “went home” to accept a position in Houston before being coaxed back to the island in 2023 when he assumed the transportation program manager’s position.
Before taking the most recent traffic safety survey, I took a moment and reviewed some of the findings and recommendations from this past summer’s report. The Safe Streets and High Injury Review covered a five-year period (2018 - 2022) and led perfectly into the most recent survey available to the public now.
Some of the data fell into the “Captain Obvious” column such as “crashes are substantially higher in the summer” but other conclusions were more interesting and thought-provoking.
For example:
- Crashes peak during the middle of the day mirroring ferry patterns.
- Seasonal workers may have greater risks as they rely on walking or biking.
- The area that has the highest rate of crashes is the Old South Road / Milestone Road / Orange Street rotary.
- Over the five-year period, Nantucket averaged roughly 219 crashes a year where injuries were involved.
- 26 percent of the drivers involved in a crash were over 64 years old.
- The month of July was the most dangerous month with Sunday being the safest day to drive.
- The most common factor cited was “distracted driving” (25 percent) such as cell phone use.
- Surprisingly, drug or alcohol was cited in only 4 percent of the crashes where an injury was involved which falls right below the state average of 5 percent.
- Animal involved crashes accounted for roughly 8 percent of the total crashes in the five-year analysis with Milestone Road and Tom Nevers Road having the most reported accidents.
Bottom line: If you are planning on getting lunch at the Rotary and notice a 65-year-old guy driving in from Sconset who appears to be distracted and it’s noon time on a Wednesday in July, I’d run for cover.
More seriously, the survey caught my eye because we are in the midst of a non-traditional transportation explosion. In addition to cars and trucks, the island is being overwhelmed by alternative modes of transportation such as electric bikes, hover boards, motorized skateboards, scooters, custom-designed gyroscopic mono wheels, etc.
Since the bulk of these modes of transportation fall into a grey area and are not regulated, no one is quite sure who has the right of way or what driver commands respect on the roads, bike paths and crosswalks of Nantucket.
What would have been interesting to see in the survey is a specific question about near misses involving pedestrians, joggers, bike riders, electric bikes, skateboards, and cars/trucks. I bet that number is dangerously high. With law enforcement left hanging in abeyance until more definitive rules of the road are adopted encompassing these trendy new means of transportation, it truly has become a jungle out there as everyone moves around the island at a fanatical pace.
We all know rock - paper - scissors; but when it comes to vehicle versus scooter, bike, and hover board, vehicle smashes, covers and cuts all of them. Especially during the summer, not a day goes by that there isn’t a story about a narrow escape of a mother pushing a stroller on the bike bath versus an electric bike or a scooter whipping around the rotary versus an unsuspecting driver or a biker off the bike path challenging a truck for space on Madaket Road. Literally, hundreds have dodged a bullet with the potential of deadly consequences being very real.
Traditional methods of transportation on island are changing. Nantucket is a ripe environment for smaller, quicker, zippier, environmentally friendly, and less expensive modes of transportation for business and personal use to thrive. We are not going to build a third lane. However, we can be proactive and use the next six months to adopt some local rules of the road before the summer of 2025 because common sense just doesn’t seem to be enough to save a life when it comes to navigating the streets, bike paths, sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks of Nantucket.
If you agree and love a quick survey, jump on board and respond. There’s plenty of room for comments, especially knowing the emphasis of the survey is safety. Burns, Cooke and company would appreciate it; and in the end, I think the Nantucket community would too.