BRATTLEBORO — Here is another voice in favor of putting downtown's traffic lights back on cycle.
I worked at the Latchis Hotel and Theatre for 10 years and during that time, I must have stood on the corner of Main Street and Flat Street at least 5,000 times, waiting to cross. In addition, my office window overlooked the same corner.
It is safe to say I saw a lot of traffic, and had an overabundance of pedestrian experiences, in my day.
Bring back the lights! Brattleboro's director of public works, Steve Barrett, knows how keenly I protected that corner from the dreaded blink. Aside from pedestrian terror, there was always the misery of those in cars trying to make a left turn from Flat to Main.
As a significant tourist destination, the Latchis Hotel is interested in making sure hotel guests can navigate our downtown safely and conveniently. Fighting to get onto Main Street doesn't enhance the downtown guest experience, and it isn't so hot for locals, either, believe me.
Not only that: I would routinely see southbound cars breeze through the intersection - despite a red light, other cars, or people - as if the light were a suggestion, not the law. But maybe that's a complaint for another time.
However, if the lights are to blink, I have an idea: a traffic- calming education campaign. I saw it at work in Camden, Maine. It was a visible part of the culture of their compact downtown, and it seemed to keep traffic flowing nicely, and people crossing safely.