Wolfeboro Selectboard votes to paint crosswalks red

WOLFEBORO — Town officials are moving ahead with a plan to standardize crosswalks across Wolfeboro after years of inconsistent and, at times, unclear markings, while recent pedestrian crashes have underscored broader safety concerns — including in areas without designated crossings.

During their April 2 meeting, the Wolfeboro Board of Selectmen unanimously approved a proposal from Public Works Director Steve Randall to repaint crosswalks using a uniform design, while leaving room for future adjustments.

Randall said the effort is intended to address long-standing inconsistencies.

“What I'm trying to do is reset all of our crosswalks,” Randall said. “If people haven't noticed, they are everywhere. They're odd shaped. There's no consistency. There's no nothing.”

Randall told the Sun he's working on a design for the selectmen to tinker with. 

Under the plan, crosswalks would be repainted with a solid red base, bordered by white stripes, along with six additional white stripes across the interior — three in each lane — creating a consistent look throughout town.

Randall said previous attempts to standardize markings have not worked.

“Somewhere over the last, I don't know how many years, different roads get different things,” he said. “We tried to correct some here and there to get some consistency over the last couple years. It's not working.”

The redesign is intended as a starting point. Officials plan to evaluate the look after one season and decide whether to keep it or switch to alternatives such as “piano key” or angled designs.

Selectmen discussed design details before settling on the final version. Selectman John Thurston advocated for adding internal striping for visibility, suggesting three markings per lane. Randall agreed to adjust his original concept to incorporate the stripes.

Selectman Linda Murray made the motion to approve the design, and passed unanimously. 

Randall said he hopes to have a contractor lined up to begin painting in early May, depending on weather.

Selectman Brian Deshaies said that Lebanon experimented with several different colors of crosswalks and decided on yellow.  

On Monday, Lebanon Planning & Development Director Nathan Reichert told the Sun that most of the crosswalks now are yellow blocks and don't have white borders. He said the color scheme was the recommendation from the Lebanon DPW to the city manager and council. 

The discussion comes as Wolfeboro police are investigating two pedestrian-involved crashes that occurred March 31 on North Main Street and Center Street.

Wolfeboro Police Chief Chris Warn told the Sun Monday that neither crash involved a crosswalk.  

The first incident was reported at 9:11 a.m. near Lake Street, followed by a second at approximately 11:10 a.m. near Center Street by the entrance to The Ledges. In both cases, pedestrians were injured and transported to Huggins Hospital and Portsmouth Regional Hospital for treatment.

Police said both incidents remain under active investigation and that the drivers involved are cooperating.

Anyone who witnessed either incident or has video footage is asked to contact Wolfeboro Polie Det. Cpl. Joseph Shanks at 603-569-1444 or jshanks@wolfeboropolice.gov.

Crosswalks in Conway are painted white stripes, though lighted crosswalk signs were installed at several intersections along North-South Road in North Conway.

On Tuesday, Town Manager John Eastman said the lighted crosswalk signs aren't working because of winter damage related to snowplows. He said the DPW plans to get them working again this spring.  

Last Thursday, the Conway Planning Board reviewed public safety amendments to the town’s site plan regulations, some of which regarded pedestrian and bicycle access, traffic impacts, parking standards, construction control and environmental protections.

A public hearing, set for April 23, will give people the chance to provide feedback before adoption.

The committee will look at where there tends to be a lot of pedestrians, where there are safety issues and where trails and bike paths can create new commuting options. The committee will recommend improvements to a capital improvements plan and writing some "strongly worded letters to DOT" regarding Route 16, said planning board Chair Ben Colbath on Monday. He said that the committee will be formed on Thursday, April 9 and the committee may include about nine or 10 people. 

"We've had an overwhelming response to people from our community interested in serving in this capacity," said Colbath.