To the editor:
I applaud Tom Peach for removing the two speed bumps from Peach Highlands. They should have been removed years ago. The Select Board voted to install them in 2020, declaring them an emergency measure. “I would ask the chief and town administrator and DPW to come up with some different options and come back to us as soon as possible,” then-Select Board Chair Jackie Belf-Becker said. “Works for me,” staff replied in unison, according to the Marblehead Reporter. It didn’t work for them and the Select Board failed to exercise its oversight responsibilities.
Mr. Peach (and this newspaper) should also be applauded for publicizing his action — that’s civil disobedience 101. The residents of Beach Street might want to take notice.
Following a hit-and-run crash that killed a family pet, the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee that I created heard their pleas for traffic calming and voted to recommend that the town submit a grant application for a major project. To date, the Select Board has ignored the TSAC’s reports, but even if the grant is submitted and approved, that project will take some years.
On the other hand, temporary speed pillows (like the offending bumps, but far more gentle on vehicles) can be installed tomorrow. Residents themselves can buy them online for as little as $75. Home Depot has ones just like those on Peach Highlands — installation kit included —for $160. Other solutions, such as planters, street art, and traffic cones, are equally quick and have the advantage of not raising drivers’ ire.
This will, of course, put the Marblehead Police Department in an awkward position: they have not charged Mr. Peach with vandalism as of this writing. Unless they grant the same deference to, what shall we call them, counter-protestors, they will have to explain why the law is being applied selectively or lose public confidence.
Whether you’re pro-hump or anti-hump, I think we can all agree that the Select Board needs to take ownership of traffic safety concerns.
Dan Albert
Marblehead