Safer streets

We can do more to make our streets safer for children, cyclists, dog walkers, people with disabilities, and older adults. To do this, we can continue the annual program of building sidewalks on streets where residents feel they need them and do not have them. Priority should be given to those streets where children gather each morning for the school bus. As we prepare for the opening of the Purple Line, we should prioritize projects, like the New Hampshire Avenue cycleway, that will connect residents to this new service.

The planned citywide traffic study is an opportunity to develop a comprehensive traffic-calming policy. We should work towards a unified vision for controlling traffic speeds and cut-through traffic, for how we design our street architecture, including sidewalks and cycleways, and for how we enforce our traffic laws. Step by step, we can improve connections to existing sidewalks, repair and upgrade them as necessary, and see this as an opportunity to build additional pedestrian safety and traffic-calming features. Each project can do double duty, supporting the overall goal of calming traffic and incorporating stormwater solutions. The city has been working to secure funding for a citywide approach to traffic, and Jim would support these efforts. Turning a council resolution into a unified, citywide policy could then follow. In Takoma Park, we should treat traffic calming, enforcement, and planning as part of the same vision for safe streets.

Public safety is an overlapping concern in efforts to make streets safer. Residents want a Takoma Park Police Department (TPPD) that not only responds rapidly to their needs but is open, transparent, and accountable. In recent years, through his work on the Chief's Advisory Board, Jim has had extensive experience with the TPPD and understands the community's concerns and the challenges of policing in Takoma Park. He has maintained working relationships with neighbors and the TPPD leadership, often putting them in direct touch to help improve communication and build trust. As residents, we must also ensure that the police who serve us have the resources they need to provide timely, high-quality service that respects the rights of all.