By Mya Riley, Strong Towns
In Hallowell, Maine, families walking or biking to Hall-Dale Elementary face a daunting task: crossing the intersection of Central and Hillcrest streets, where drivers speed over a blind hill, and there are no sidewalks.
Related: AAA: Nighttime pedestrian detection improves to 60%, but safety gaps remain.
It’s a well-known hazard, and one that didn’t seem likely to be addressed any time soon. That’s why the Local Conversation Strong Towns Hallowell decided to act.
All of the group’s members are parents, and they knew from experience how dangerous the area was. Their first step was to prove that danger with data. Using resources from Strong Towns’ Crash Analysis Studio, they conducted a speed study and found that over 80% of drivers were speeding. Over 20% were going more than 10 mph over the speed limit.
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How Apopka can utilize this plan
Apopka can draw inspiration from Hallowell’s parent-led approach by empowering neighborhoods to identify unsafe school routes and collaborate directly with city staff on low-cost, quick-build improvements. Many problem areas near Apopka schools—such as wide travel lanes, missing sidewalks, and poorly marked crosswalks—could benefit from temporary measures, such as paint, plastic delineators, and community-funded pilot projects to test solutions before committing to major capital spending. By embracing data collection, school partnerships, and citizen-driven design, Apopka could accelerate safety improvements, reduce speeding near campuses, and build stronger support for long-term pedestrian infrastructure.
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The blind hill and lack of sidewalks made these high speeds even more dangerous. “Even if someone decides to be nice and, ‘Oh, I’ll go give a wide berth to the pedestrians and do it safely,’ because of the blind crest, they have no way of knowing if there’s another vehicle going over 40 mph in the other direction that’s going to hit them head on,” Dafydd Holbrook-Pronovost told a local newspaper.
The efforts of Dafydd and his Local Conversation were profiled in the local news.
Dafydd is the leader of Strong Towns Hallowell, and he led the development of a plan to address these dangers. Drawing on his experience in the area and a traffic-calming guide from the Maine Department of Transportation, he identified strategies to improve safety. He then brought those strategies to the rest of the group for discussion and iteration.
“Maine DOT employs a single active transport planner, who was highly responsive and enthusiastic, encouraging us to strive for simplicity in our plan,” Dafydd told Strong Towns. The group took the advice to heart. Their finalized plan was very simple: have volunteers use paint and flexible delineators to narrow the roadway, encouraging drivers to slow down. The whole project could be done for about $300, which the Local Conversation planned to fund itself.
After gathering community feedback and signatures for a petition of support, Strong Towns Hallowell submitted their plan to the city council and transportation committee in August 2024. The planning and community outreach had taken only two months, and the group hoped they’d be able to move into implementation just as quickly.
However, the process proved slower and more complicated than anticipated. Strong Towns Hallowell didn’t get a response from the city until March 2025. In the meantime, the group focused on building momentum within the community. They partnered with the local parent-teacher organization to coordinate the city’s first Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day in October 2024. Eighteen families participated in the event, which garnered local news coverage.
When the transportation committee finally met in April 2025 to discuss the plan, more difficulties emerged. The committee agreed with the goal of slowing traffic but chose not to move forward with the flexible delineators, which Dafydd described as “the most effective, cheapest, and easiest to implement aspect of our plan.”
Instead, the city chose a more conventional approach: updated pavement markings and new signage installed by the Public Works Department. This raised the total cost to $1,500, five times the group’s original estimate. Fortunately, Strong Towns Hallowell won a grant from the Elsie & William Viles Foundation to cover the cost.
Key Points:
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Families walking to Hall-Dale Elementary in Hallowell faced a hazardous crossing with speeding vehicles, a blind hill, and no sidewalks.
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Strong Towns Hallowell, a group of parent advocates, conducted a speed study showing that over 80% of drivers were speeding, with more than 20% exceeding 10 mph.
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The group created a simple $300 traffic-calming plan using paint and flexible delineators to narrow lanes and slow drivers.
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After months of delays, the city chose a more expensive approach with new pavement markings and signage, raising the cost to $1,500.
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A grant from the Elsie & William Viles Foundation allowed the project to move forward, showing how grassroots efforts can still succeed despite bureaucratic hurdles.
