Thank you for reporting your concern to the Town of Westwood via Commonwealth Connect. We have reviewed the information you provided our staff and will be investigating this issue further. The Town of Westwood staff will provide regular updates here as we work towards resolving this issue. You will be notified via email about our progress. Thank you again for helping us improve our community!

The common practice for shared use ways is for bicyclists to be on the outside of the lane and pedestrians to be on the inside. The signs going each way indicate bikes to the outside and walkers to the inside of each lane. If you need further information, please contact the Town Engineer for assistance. Thank you.

Correct, but the signage on University Ave going east to west is the exact same signage that goes west to east. This places a bike and a pedestrian, who are approaching each other(oncoming) on the same side of the sidewalk. ( take a sign and hold it in front of you facing east the bike is on the street side. Now turn 180 degrees holding the same sign, the pedestrian is on the street side) I will take two pictures if needed.

Photo of one of the incorrect signs attached

Photo of one of the correct signs attached

Please see the attached sign for how the lanes work. This would be how the signs looked if they were facing the same way instead of opposite directions. Only difference is we have bicyclists on the outside and pedestrians on the inside.

Do you intend to replace the incorrect signs?

The signs are correct as bicycles on the outside and pedestrians on the inside of each lane. We will monitor the situation and if necessary make changes.

"You may ride on sidewalks outside Business Districts, unless local laws prohibit sidewalk riding" This is from the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chapter 85, Section 11B.

Based on where those signs are, wouldn't that be considered a 'Business District' and hence, there should be no biking on the sidewalks in those locations. Likewise, the signs would not be applicable. Also, most Cities/Towns prohibit biking on sidewalks outright.

That's look even more correct. I brought this whole thing up, because when you are walking West and you follow what the sign tells you to do. You will be walking on the outside lane with a bike coming right at you. And a bike a bike that came toward me told me to get out of the way. According to the signs we were both correct. DPW needs to replace the incorrect signs or if you are correct put up a sign saying "NO BIKES"
The sign that the DPW posted for an example is from some where else (outside of a business district) and does not apply!

one question about the sign that the DPW posted from Monterey, CA . Are you saying that the sidewalk on University Ave. is 4 lanes wide?

No it was to give you an idea of how the shared-use path works, did not matter where the sign was from it was instructional only. Bicycles and pedestrians going one way (right side) and bicycles and pedestrians using the other side of the path (their right side). We will have someone look at the signs and monitor the situation. Since this section is a shared-use path, not a sidewalk, bicycles are allowed to use it also.

If the intent was to use 4 lanes (2 each way) then I understand where the confusion is. But its appears to be too narrow for 4 lanes. My assumption was 2 lanes ( 1 each way ). In reality it being used as 2 lanes because of its width. With that in mind I would still treat it as 2 lanes ( 1 each way ) and change the 2 signs.

no 2 "lanes" - 1 in each direction for shared-use. Again: We will have someone look at the signs and monitor the situation. If you have any further questions, please contact the Westwood Planning Department as they were the acting authority regarding any approval pertaining to signage along the University Avenue project.

Thanks for fixing this issue!