Tag: Boston

Prepping for a Fields Corner walk audit later this summer in Dorchester

Prepping for a Fields Corner walk audit later this summer in Dorchester

This week, we walked around Fields Corner in Dorchester and some of the surrounding streets in the neighborhood with the executive director of Fields Corner Main Street to scout out a walk audit route for later this summer. Fields Corner Main Street (FCMS) is one of twenty Main Street organizations established by the City of Boston to promote neighborhood business districts. Fields Corner is home to a diverse community of Vietnamese, African-American, Cape Verdean, Irish and Latino businesses, and residents. FCMS’ mission is to safeguard and advance the diverse character and economic vitality of Field’s Corner to better serve its residents and attract visitors.

Along the way, we stopped in to speak with a few business owners and others we met on the street while walking through the area, especially around the intersection of Adams Street and Dorchester Avenue. Please send Brendan a message if you live or work in the area and want to take part in the walk audit later this summer.

Don’t live or work in the area, but know it well? Do you know people that we should be reaching out to in order to include in this effort? We’d love to hear from you, and are also happy to incorporate any feedback and suggestions you may have. Thank you!

   

where we’ve been lately – May 2021 update

where we’ve been lately – May 2021 update

As summer approaches, we’ve been ramping up our work all over the Commonwealth!

Here are a few places we’ve been working with people lately, either in person or virtually, to help make their community more walkable:

  1. Blandford
  2. Boston
  3. Brockton
  4. Cambridge
  5. Chelsea
  6. Concord
  7. Cummington
  8. Egremont
  9. Haverhill
  10. Huntington
  11. Medford
  12. New Bedford
  13. Quincy
  14. Springfield
  15. Worcester
Read the Boston Vision Zero Progress Report – Year Five (2019 & 2020)

Read the Boston Vision Zero Progress Report – Year Five (2019 & 2020)

BOSTON VISION ZERO PROGRESS REPORT

YEAR FIVE – 2019 & 2020

Read Full Report

In 2015 the City of Boston committed to Vision Zero, a data-driven effort to eliminate serious and fatal crashes on city streets by 2030. Nearly six years later, the City of Boston has demonstrated consistent and measurable progress toward its goals, and has much to be proud of, including continuing to reduce pedestrian fatalities during a year when they skyrocketed across the country.

This year’s report includes a summary and evaluation of the City’s progress in both 2019 and 2020, along with specific recommendations for how Boston can continue moving toward its goal of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2030.

Read the full report here.

Boston has proven itself to be a national Vision Zero leader. The challenge moving forward will be maintaining momentum as the City recovers from COVID-19, addresses systemic racism, and continues to adapt to an ever-changing context.

Now is the right time for the City to revisit its Action Plan, reflect on how the landscape has changed, and present an updated roadmap to Vision Zero. The City should incorporate an emphasis on decreasing the number of single-occupancy vehicles on the road by increasing mode shift, as well as focus on removing police enforcement from the scope of its plan.

The MA Vision Zero Coalition (of which WalkBoston is a member) believes the City is positioned well to execute these recommendations and to continue on the right path toward meeting Vision Zero and Go Boston 2030 goals. The Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition looks forward to continuing our strong relationship with the City of Boston to achieve our shared goals.

Read the full report here.

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, March 2021

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, March 2021

Each month in 2021, we plan to post about the fatal crashes in Massachusetts from the previous month, and share any trends that we see. Last month, we took a look at the 4 fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in February. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in March 2021. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Information by Year.” The Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

  • Of the 23 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in March in the MassDOT Crash portal, 7 were people walking. We’ve identified 1 additional fatal incident during March covered in the news media:
    • 1 person lost their life in Malden when a mechanic with a suspended license crashed an SUV through the door of an auto body shop and struck her as she was walking on the sidewalk. View a segment from WCVB about 86-year-old Athena Hartwell, who walked this section of sidewalk almost every day with her walker: “Neighborhood mourns woman killed in SUV crash.“
    • Updated 4/29/2021: We listed a crash that occurred in Sterling as not being in the portal for March, but this crash occurred in April and is listed. We apologize for the error. We’ve updated this post accordingly.
  • The crash portal does not include names. The names of 7 of the people walking who died have not been made public yet; unlike previous months in 2021, news articles were more difficult to find for many of these crashes.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in March was 59.6.
  • 3 of the crashes all have 12:00AM listed as the time; it is possible data was incomplete when initially submitted.
  • At least 4 of the crashes were hit & runs (as referenced in news articles).
  • The name of the person driving was not identified in any of the crashes in news articles that we found.
Date3/3/2021, 12:00 AM
Location800 Morrissey Blvd.
TownBoston
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age56
SexM

A 56-year old man was hit and killed on Morrissey Boulevard in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Morrissey Boulevard is under MassDCR jurisdiction. We have not been able to find additional information about this crash.

Date3/7/2021, 12:00 AM
Location232 Stafford Rd.
TownMonson
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age94
SexF

A 94-year old woman was hit and killed on Stafford Road. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Stafford Rd/Rt 32 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are no sidewalks on this road. We have not been able to find additional information about this crash.

Date3/7/2021, 12:40 AM
LocationAuburn St. + Summer St.
TownBridgewater
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age34
SexM

Ian Dalgliesh, a 34-year old man, was found unconscious in the roadway at the intersection of Auburn and Summer streets in Bridgewater around 12:40 a.m. on Sunday, March 7. WCVB reported three weeks after that crash that police were still seeking help to find the driver who left the scene. The article noted that the intersection is located in a residential neighborhood, with stop signs located at all four corners.

Google Streetview shows a sidewalk on one side of the street for one leg of the intersection. It also shows a house on the corner with guardrails at the intersection, possibly indicating that drivers have driven recklessly in this area before.

Date3/10/2021, 7:00 PM
LocationMeadow St. + Chicopee St.
TownChicopee
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age53
SexM

A Chicopee man was hit & seriously injured in a hit & run crash on March 10th near Rivers Park. He died later in the month from his injuries. The Chicopee Police released photos of a dark colored SUV on March 25th as part of the investigation to track down the driver. While there is a signalized crosswalk near the Meadow/Chicopee PVTA bus stop at one corner of Rivers Park, there are no crosswalks at the intersection of Meadow & Chicopee Streets.

According to Streetview, a crosswalk across Chicopee Street nearby that did not have curb ramps was removed between 2016 & 2017 during street & sidewalk reconstruction at the corner of Chicopee, Margaret & Whitman Streets.

Date3/12/2021, 9:40 PM
Location189 Chestnut Hill Ave.
TownBoston
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age77
SexM

A 77 year old man was hit and killed on Chestnut Hill Ave in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood. We have not been able to find additional information about this crash.

Date3/17/2021, 12:00 AM
Location511 Broadway
TownEverett
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age67
SexM

A 67-year-old man was hit and killed on Broadway in Everett. We have not been able to find additional information about this crash.

Date3/25/2021, 8:10 PM
LocationParker St. + Ellery St.
TownSpringfield
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age40
SexM

A 40-year old man was hit and killed on March 25th at Parker Street & Ellery Street in Springfield. Ellery Street is a private way. Parker Street has 2 travel lanes in each direction, and is at least 48 feet wide curb to curb. While WWLP reported breaking news on March 25th that a crash may have involved a motorcycle at this location, we have not been able to find additional information about this crash. [Update, 3/23/2022: this was re-categorized as a motorcycle crash.]

Updates

If you have an update about a community member who was killed in one of these crashes, please contact Brendan so we can update our . WalkBoston has maintained a list each year since 2016, pulling the information from news reports, social media, and from people like you that share the information with us.

Yearly trackers:  |||||

Reminder about the data from the MassDOT portal

DISCLAIMER:  The compilation of data is based on preliminary data we receive from a variety of local sources.  Some of the data may differ slightly from information provided by NHTSA as this dashboard does not use imputation methods.  Information is subject to change when/if updated information becomes available. Data updated daily as reported by police departments.

*Updated 4/29/2021: We listed a crash that occurred in Sterling as not being in the database for March, but this crash occurred in April and is listed. We apologize for the error. We’ve updated the post accordingly.

Shattuck Campus Redevelopment at Morton Street Proposal Comment Letter

Shattuck Campus Redevelopment at Morton Street Proposal Comment Letter

April 23, 2021

Loryn Sheffner, DCAMM
1 Ashburton Place, Suite 107 Boston, MA 02108

Re: Shattuck Campus Redevelopment at Morton Street Proposal

Dear Loryn,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Shattuck Campus Redevelopment Proposal. If the 13-acre Shattuck Campus site will be redeveloped for public health purposes, we hope the project will address connections to and along Morton Street to make it safer and more convenient for pedestrians, and reconnect Franklin Park to this side of the neighborhood. We suggest that the housing development plan, if adopted, include an enforceable requirement of wide, accessible walking paths and tree canopy in the spirit of the Olmsted Plan.

One of the high level planning principles identified is to “improve access to neighborhoods with public transit, bike and pedestrian options.” This project, in conjunction with the greater Franklin Park Action Plan, has the potential to more deliberately restore public access to the park from the Morton Street side. The state needs to think beyond the borders of the project bounds in order to make this happen.

While Morton Street is a MassDOT road, two of the roads that feed into it with similar cross sections, American Legion Highway and Blue Hill Avenue, are listed on the City of Boston’s High Crash Network in the top 3% of streets for motor vehicle crashes. The high speed design of Morton Street impacts all other modes. It feels uncomfortable and is an unpleasant walking and biking environment; there are sections of the street that do not have sidewalks on either side. The bus stop on Morton Street to access the Shattuck site was made accessible in the last few years by removing the center median barrier and adding curb ramps, yet the existing unsignalized crossing of multiple vehicle lanes is still dangerous for people walking. The project site is not far from the Forest Hills MBTA station, yet seems much further since Morton Street is poorly designed at this point for walking.

We hope that there will be a collaborative focus on traffic calming beyond the immediate project footprint incorporated into this redevelopment project and adjacent park effort by DCAMM, MassDOT, and the City of Boston.

Sincerely,

Brendan Kearney, Deputy Director
WalkBoston