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:
Since September 2020, WalkBoston has conducted a series of walk audits in Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth as part of our “Gateway Cities: Social Infrastructure and Walkability” project in partnership with MassINC and with support from the Solomon Foundation. We’re hosting walk audits in five Gateway Cities, in the area around each city’s downtown commuter rail station, in order to advance better connections to transit-oriented development (TOD) zones and public amenities in these communities.
This project not only assesses the neighborhoods’ walking conditions but also looks at the availability of spaces that foster gathering and social connection, such as parks, plazas, community centers, and cafes. Through virtual discussions, as well as sharing written and visual observations, we’re working with residents, municipal staff, and other community members to identify assets and opportunities, and develop program, infrastructure, and policy recommendations based on participants’ visions for the area. In addition to effecting change at the local level, WalkBoston and MassINC will produce policy papers based on the findings from these walk audits to inform state policy and budgetary investment in Gateway Cities.
So far, we’ve completed virtual walk audits in three cities as part of this project: Springfield, Fitchburg, and Brockton. Over the past year, the desire to live in a community with comfortable walking paths, open space, and street activity has dramatically increased as people spent more time at home and in their neighborhoods. The walk audits we’ve already completed have demonstrated that there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm to create more walkable, vibrant public spaces in our partner communities. In Fitchburg, participants are forming a bike/ped committee to advance the walk audit’s findings. In Brockton, residents looking for ways to get more involved in decision-making in their community used the walk audit to connect with municipal staff and each other and learn about joining committees, boards, and task forces.
Next, we’re kicking off our Haverhill walk audit tonight, Thursday, May 27th. This will be the first walk audit in the Gateway Cities series to include an in-person group walk option – we’re excited to get back to walking together again!
A recent visit to Springfield revealed significant progress on two major pedestrian safety projects in two different Springfield neighborhoods.
Completed in September 2020, the Six Corners Roundabout was years in the making. WalkBoston learned about it back in 2013 when conducting a walk audit at the Elias Brookings Elementary School and the Maple High – Six Corners neighborhood. The project provides protected pedestrian crossings where there once were none. It slows traffic down and provides a connected sidewalk network for residents and kids walking to school.
Begun in August 2020, the North End Pedestrian Underpass Project will provide a safe connection for people walking in the Brightwood neighborhood. No longer will residents have to walk along highway ramps or cut across railroad tracks to get from Plainfield Street to Birnie Avenue. WalkBoston conducted two walk audits in the Brightwood neighborhood, including at the German Gerena Community School, that identified this connection as a pedestrian safety hazard.
So great to watch these big projects get built!
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.
| Date | 3/3/2021, 12:00 AM |
| Location | 800 Morrissey Blvd. |
| Town | Boston |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 56 |
| Sex | M |
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.
| Date | 3/7/2021, 12:00 AM |
| Location | 232 Stafford Rd. |
| Town | Monson |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 94 |
| Sex | F |
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.
| Date | 3/7/2021, 12:40 AM |
| Location | Auburn St. + Summer St. |
| Town | Bridgewater |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 34 |
| Sex | M |
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.
| Date | 3/10/2021, 7:00 PM |
| Location | Meadow St. + Chicopee St. |
| Town | Chicopee |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 53 |
| Sex | M |
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.
| Date | 3/12/2021, 9:40 PM |
| Location | 189 Chestnut Hill Ave. |
| Town | Boston |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 77 |
| Sex | M |
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.
| Date | 3/17/2021, 12:00 AM |
| Location | 511 Broadway |
| Town | Everett |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 67 |
| Sex | M |
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.
| Date | 3/25/2021, 8:10 PM |
| Location | Parker St. + Ellery St. |
| Town | Springfield |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 40 |
| Sex | M |
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.
March 16, 2021
Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)
Attn: MEPA Office, Eva Murray
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Dear Secretary Theoharides:
WalkBoston continues to work in the City of Springfield where we have conducted 14 walk audits to date, nine of them around Springfield elementary schools. Before the COVID 19 pandemic began, WalkBoston was working with the Homer Street School to evaluate the safety and quality of the new walking routes students will take to reach the combined DeBerry-Homer Elementary School between Monroe and Union Streets. It is with this expertise that we submit the following comments on the DeBerry-Homer Elementary School Environmental Notification Form (ENF).
The Pare Corporation Traffic Impact Analysis discusses the proposed vehicular and pedestrian traffic patterns to be implemented with the construction of the new combined elementary school. Our comments are in response to the findings of that analysis.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments. Please reach out to us with any questions that may arise from our response.
Sincerely,
Stacey Beuttell
Executive Director