|Debra Smith|

The National Center for Rural Road Safety has proclaimed this week Rural Road Safety Awareness Week.

New Gloucester residents who completed the BLING (Building Livability in New Gloucester) survey last fall identified road safety as a primary concern. They said that vehicles go much too fast so they don’t feel safe walking or biking on local roads, and they identified many ways that safety could be improved.

The BLING “Getting Around” working group has been collecting speed data and working on traffic calming strategies that can be carried out by volunteers, such as walkers carrying orange flags to alert drivers, and a plan for a “pace car” program. A road safety audit is on our TO DO list.

In addition, New Gloucester is included in a new Zero Vision project sponsored by GPGOG. This will allow residents to report their experiences on local roads, and identify traffic hazards on an interactive map. Look for information about a local Vision Zero presentation this fall.

Here are a few facts about speed, drivers and pedestrians.