Tag: Medford

Action Alert: Contact your Legislators to Support a Safer Route 16

WalkBoston is proud to support the Route 16 Coalition, a project of Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets, a group made up of resident advocates, local and state legislators, and other community groups organizing for a safer Route 16 from Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge to Main Street in Medford.

This section of Route 16 is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and is made up of Alewife Brook and Mystic Valley Parkways, and was originally designed to be a “pleasure road” for taking in the beautiful scenery of the surrounding parkland. Today it is a high-speed roadway with some of the highest crash rates in the region that acts exactly opposite to its original intent: it is a dangerous barrier that impedes access of local residents to parkland, nearby amenities and businesses, and negatively impacts the Alewife Brook and Mystic River waterways and climate.

The coalition is asking members to call or email their state and local legislators to ask them to support an earmark of ~$750,000 for a traffic study that is necessary to move forward with much-needed safety improvements on Route 16 in Cambridge, Somerville and Medford. The timing is immediate as the earmark is being discussed this week (week of March 7th) in the Ways and Means Committee. This is important for residents of Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Arlington, Belmont and Watertown and for anyone who travels through this dangerous corridor.

Find your state legislators and their contact information here:https://malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator

For more information on this effort or if you’re interested in joining the coalition, email somervillesafestreets@gmail.com

Successful Outdoor Dining — à la Shared Streets Funding by Miranda Briseno

Miranda Briseño joined WalkBoston as a Program Manager in early July. Previously she was with the Office of Planning, Development, and Sustainability for the City of Medford where she focused on the COVID-19 response—helping to create the City’s first business grant program, supporting residential Shared Streets programs, and managing the 2021 Outdoor Dining program.

Like communities nationwide, Medford was no stranger to having to reframe its approach to streets in 2020. Residents wanted—and still want—to feel safe and distanced from cars and others during COVID-19, and restaurants desperately needed an alternative to indoor dining. When MassDOT’s Shared Streets and Spaces grant program was announced, Medford jumped at the opportunity to receive funding to support these efforts. The 2020 Outdoor Dining program in Medford provided an opportunity for restaurants to get creative and paved the way for the program’s second iteration. At the first pass, despite uncertainties around health and safety, a small group of 15 Medford restaurants volunteered to participate in the pilot program. The limited number of participants aside, residents and business owners alike were huge fans of the program. One of the success stories for the 2020 program was that of Bistro 5 in West Medford. In the summer of 2020, due to the pandemic, the owner, Vittorio Ettore, reached out to the Board of Health to let them know of his decision to permanently close his restaurant. One of our wonderful Health Department staff convinced him to give Outdoor Dining a try before closing down for good. Fast forward to 2021: Bistro 5 still stands strong in West Medford! Vittorio cites the support from the City for Outdoor Dining in 2020, which included safety equipment and guidance on safe outdoor setups, as key to keeping his doors open. He was the first to call asking when the 2021 season would begin. For the 2021 season, the City was able to provide establishments with more support in the form of safety equipment and minor beautification efforts—like lights and planters—through the MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces grant. Due to the success of the pilot, the 2021 program attracted twice the number of participants. Part of this newfound interest in the 2021 program was due to the City’s committed outreach. Given that restaurant regulations were constantly changing and aiming for a smooth review process, I led the City’s effort to revamp the program’s online application, hosted two webinars/office hours for restaurant owners to ask questions, and provided technical assistance to owners interested in applying for the program. Restaurants like the aforementioned Bistro 5, Dempsey’s, Salvatore’s, and FiorItaly were eager to engage with the program again. Meanwhile, Tenoch Mexican, Neighborhood Kitchen, and Tasty Cafe on the Hill joined for the first time. With logistical support from myself and safety approval from our Public Works department and Fire Prevention office, Tenoch built a beautiful parklet level with the sidewalk, making it accessible to all, as well as being decorated with lights and planters. The Porch opened Medford’s first “beer garden” experience filled with fun lawn games. The pandemic was devastating for everyone. Fortunately, MassDOT created a lifeline to support businesses in the Commonwealth. Thanks to its grant program, cities like Medford were able to extend aid to local restaurants and test the impact of people-centered shared streets. The real outcome? We proved that shared streets benefit people and local businesses, and that such a program can and should last well beyond the pandemic.

This article was featured in WalkBoston’s Fall 2021 newsletter.
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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:

Blandford
Boston
Brockton
Cambridge
Chelsea
Concord
Cummington
Egremont
Haverhill
Huntington
Medford
New Bedford
Quincy
Springfield
Worcester

Statewide Fatal Crashes in MA, February 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 5 fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in January. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in February 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 19 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in February in the MassDOT Crash portal, 4 were people walking.
3 of those 4 crashes were on limited access highways. In 2 of those crashes, tractor trailer drivers struck and killed a driver who exited a vehicle after it had broken down.
The crash portal does not include names. The names of 2 of the people walking who died have not been made public yet.
The name of the person driving was not identified in any of the 4 crashes in news articles.
2 people lost their lives at a construction site in Boston in February when a co-worker hit them with a vehicle, pushing them into an open trench. That incident is not listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal. The Boston Globe wrote at least two follow up stories about 33-year-old Jose Carlos Figueroa-Gutierrez and 27-year-old Jordan Romero: “One day later, makeshift memorial for two construction workers only sign of tragedy in Boston,” “A sister mourns for brother killed at downtown Boston construction site.”

Date	2/2/2021, 11:30 PM
Location	I-90 EAST, MM 87.0
Town	Oxford
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	33
Sex	M

A 33 year old Hartford man was struck and killed on on I-90 (the MassPike) by the driver of a tractor trailer. WHDH reported that he was hit after his Toyota Camry broke down and he got out of the car to examine the problem.

Date	2/8/2021, 5:55 PM
Location	418 Winthrop Ave.
Town	Lawrence
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	70
Sex	F

A 70 year old woman was hit and killed on Winthrop Ave (Rt 114) on the North Andover / Lawrence line. The Boston Globe reported that the scene of the crash on Route 114 was near the North Andover Mall. Rt 114 is 4 lanes (2 travel lanes each direction) in front of the North Andover Mall and 3 lanes after the driveway intersection. There is only a sidewalk on one side of the street. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Winthrop Ave/Rt 114 is under MassDOT jurisdiction.

According to Google Streetview, the sidewalk is relatively new and under construction as of November 2019. There is only a sidewalk on one side of the street, but it did not exist prior to November 2019. New curb ramps are in place but only go across the driveway entrance, not Rt 114. The nearest crosswalks across Rt 114 are 0.9 miles away from each other, with the shopping center roughly in between. A housing development is also on the other side of the street from the shopping center.

Date	2/13/2021, 5:55 AM
Location	I-90 EAST, MM 116.2
Town	Framingham
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	57
Sex	M

Mustapha Faddi, a 57 year old Marlborough man, was struck and killed on I-90 (the MassPike) by the driver of a tractor trailer. Mustapha’s Nissan Murano broke down and he got out of the car to examine the problem. The Patch shared that this was the second fatal crash on the MassPike in February involving a disable vehicle & tractor trailer.

Date	2/27/2021, 11:40 PM
Location	I-93 NORTH, south of EXIT 33
Town	Medford
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	22
Sex	F

Madeleine Fox, a 22 year old woman, was hit and killed after she got out of her friend’s car on I-93. NBC Boston reports that investigators are working to identify a description of the vehicle or vehicles that might have hit her.

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.

Medford – Salem Street Walk Audit

WalkBoston led a walk audit of Salem Street in December 2018 attended by Mayor Stephanie Burke and representatives of multiple city departments, WalkMedford and local residents. Our recommendations are based on the day’s conversation and observations. It is important to note that Salem Street can be significantly improved with relatively low cost, incremental improvements until such time that it is scheduled for major reconstruction.

View the walk audit report