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Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, January 2023

By WalkMassachusetts | February 23, 2023

Each month, we post about the fatal crashes in Massachusetts from the previous month, and share any trends that we see. For the full list of monthly posts, head here. We will be releasing a year in review for 2022 in the coming weeks to highlight common issues. You can read the year in review for 2021 here.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in December; eight were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in January 2023. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Crash Information.” Any Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

Of the 17 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in January in the MassDOT Crash portal, 4 were identified as people walking.
The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in January was 59.5.
2 of the crashes were hit & runs.

Date	1/9/2023, 4:51 PM
Location	90 South Main St.
Town	Sharon
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	71
Sex	M

The Sharon, MA Police Department shared on Facebook that 71 year-old Joel Singer was struck and killed by a driver on South Main Street at Chestnut Street. Multiple commenters reference drivers driving very fast in the town. One commenter made note of dark streets in Sharon:

But have to add one more thing that should be addressed: lack of proper street lighting in Sharon. I have noticed that the street lights are either very dim or far apart (not all streets are like that but many are) such that there are several dark patches.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides. The speed limit is 30mph. Google Street View shows Sharon’s town hall at this location near a signalized intersection with crosswalks.

Date	1/20/2023, 10:35 PM
Location	Melnea Cass Blvd. + Mass Ave.
Town	Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	73
Sex	M

WCVB reports that a 73-year old man was walking and pushing a wheelchair when he was struck by the driver of a vehicle. The driver fled the scene; authorities located a vehicle of interest based on dashcam footage from another vehicle.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, part of this intersection is under MassDOT jurisdiction (Mass Ave Connector) and a portion is under local jurisdiction (Mass Ave, Melnea Cass Blvd, and Southampton St). From dashcam footage, it appears the crash location is under local jurisdiction. Both Melnea Cass Blvd and Mass Ave are two-way streets, with 1-2 turning lanes and 2 through lanes in each direction with a pedestrian island. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date	1/23/2023, 11:46 AM
Location	91 Concord Rd. EAST
Town	Acton
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	66
Sex	F

WCVB reports that a 66-year old woman was struck and killed while checking her mail by the driver of a dark-colored van that fled the scene; the driver later contacted police. The article notes it was the third hit-and-run in Acton in the past few months.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a walking path on one side of the street next to a cemetery, on the opposite side from where houses are located. The speed limit is 35mph (though a sign near the location on Street View from September 2019 shows 30mph).

Date	1/30/2023, 9:13 AM
Location	West St. (300 Block)
Town	Pittsfield
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	28
Sex	F

The Berkshire Eagle reports that Shaloon Milord and her 3-year old daughter were hit near Dorothea Amos Park by 84-year old Pittsfield resident Loraine Utter, who was driving a 2015 Toyota Yaris. Shaloon was transported to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

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 2023 list. 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: | ||||| 2022

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)
Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022) – anticipated report publication in March 2023

Reminder about the data from the MassDOT portal

MassDOT makes no representation as to the accuracy, adequacy, reliability, availability or completeness of the crash records or the data collected from them and is not responsible for any errors or omissions in such records or data. Under no circumstance will MassDOT have any liability for any loss or damage incurred by any party as a result of the use of the crash records or the data collected from them. Furthermore, the data contained in the web-based crash report tool are not an official record of what transpired in a particular crash or for a particular crash type. If a user is interested in an official copy of a crash report, contact the Registry (http://www.mass.gov/rmv/). The City of Boston Police Department may be contacted directly for official copies of crash reports and for crash data pertaining to the City of Boston. In addition, any crash records or data provided for the years after 2018 are subject to change at any time and are not to be considered up-to-date or complete. As such, open years’ of crash data are for informational purposes only and should not be used for analysis. The data posted on this website, including crash records and other reports, are collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating or planning the safety enhancement of potential crash sites, hazardous roadway conditions or railway-highway crossings. Under federal law, this information is not subject to discovery and cannot be admitted into evidence in any federal or state court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for damages that involves the sites mentioned in these records (see 23 USC, Section 409).

Announcing our Keynote Speaker for April 4th: Dr. Karilyn Crockett

By WalkMassachusetts | February 6, 2023

WalkBoston is excited to welcome our supporters to our 33rd Annual Celebration on April 4th at 5:30 pm at the Venture Cafe! This year, we’ll be joined by Dr. Karilyn Crockett as our keynote speaker. Register today to join us.

Dr. Karilyn Crockett’s research focuses on large-scale land use changes in twentieth century American cities and examines the social and geographic implications of structural poverty and racial formations. Karilyn’s book “People before Highways: Boston Activists, Urban Planners, and a New Movement for City Making” (UMASS Press 2018) investigates a 1960s era grassroots movement to halt urban extension of the U.S. interstate highway system and the geographic and political changes in Boston that resulted. In 2019 this book was named one of the “ten best books of the decade” by the Boston Public Library Association of Librarians. Previously Karilyn co-founded Multicultural Youth Tour of What’s Now (MYTOWN), an award winning, Boston-based, educational non-profit organization. MYTOWN hired public high school students to research their local and family histories to produce youth-led walking tours for sale to public audiences. During its nearly 15 years of operation, MYTOWN created jobs for more than 300 low and moderate-income teenagers, who in turn led public walking tours for more than 14,000 visitors and residents. In a White House ceremony, the National Endowment for the Humanities cited MYTOWN as “One of ten best Youth Humanities Programs in America.”

Karilyn holds a PhD from the American Studies program at Yale University, a Master of Science in Geography from the London School of Economics, and a Master of Arts and Religion from Yale Divinity School. Karilyn served for four years with the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development as the Director of Economic Policy & Research and the Director of Small Business Development for the City of Boston. She recently completed her service as the City of Boston’s first Chief of Equity, a Cabinet-level position Mayor Walsh established to embed equity and racial justice into all City planning, operations, and work moving forward. She holds a faculty appointment as professor of urban history, public policy and planning in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies & Planning. She is currently leading the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in a partnership with the Boston Federal Reserve Bank to revisit the 2015 “Color of Wealth” report on closing the racial wealth gap. Karilyn’s career mission is to continue to work at the nexus of education, economic development policy and urban revitalization.

We hope to see you at the Venture Cafe in Cambridge, located at One Broadway, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02142, for our first in-person annual meeting in three years. Register here.

Join us as we honor our Keynote Speaker, Golden Shoe Award winners, and reflect on the past year. Food and drinks will be provided.

We will also be live streaming the formal program for those unable to attend otherwise. Stay tuned for our Golden Shoe Winner announcements coming soon!

WalkBoston Comments on 2022 MassDOT Snow and Ice Control Program EEA#11202

By WalkMassachusetts | February 6, 2023

February 6, 2023

Secretary Rebecca Tepper
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Attn via email: Eva Vaughan

Re: 2022 MassDOT Snow and Ice Control Program EEA#11202

Dear Secretary Tepper:

WalkBoston commented on MassDOT’s Environmental Status and Planning Report (ESPR) on Snow and Ice Control in 2018 and again in March 2021. Our 2021 comments were incorporated into the Certificate issued by EOEEA in 2021.

WalkBoston has continued to follow MassDOT’s efforts regarding the clearance of sidewalks, curb ramps and traffic islands that are under the agency’s jurisdiction, and we are pleased that the 2022 ESPR includes several new commitments to sidewalk snow clearance.

One important step that MassDOT has taken since 2021 is the provision of grant funding of up to $50,000 to help municipalities purchase snow removal equipment for pedestrian and bicyclist facilities through its Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program. While not directed to MassDOT owned sidewalks, this program should help to increase sidewalk snow clearance on municipal sidewalks.

As stated on page 15 of the ESPR, approximately 43% of MassDOT roads have adjacent sidewalks amounting to approximately 1,300 miles of sidewalks located mostly in the central village and downtown areas of various communities. The new steps called out by MassDOT in the ESPR (pages ES-5 and 15) are the following:

New for the 2022/23 winter, MassDOT plans to hire more “seasonal” snow and ice employees that report directly to MassDOT to help with sidewalk clearing as well as other activities.
MassDOT will continue to evaluate vendor reimbursement rates and pay codes to enlist more contractors for sidewalk maintenance services and better reflect the variable snow removal efforts for large storms versus smaller storms.

When MassDOT reports on the outcomes of its 2022 ESPR we ask that the following information be included so that WalkBoston and others can see how successful the new efforts are at providing safe and accessible sidewalks.

Provide a map showing the location of the 1,300 miles of MassDOT sidewalks, and indicate which of these miles were covered by work orders for clearance by MassDOT or its contractors.
Include sidewalk clearance responsibilities in the table showing MassDOT SICP roles and responsibilities (Table 1.2 on page 6 of the report)
Provide information about the cost of sidewalk snow clearance provided by MassDOT or its contractors – similar to that provided in Table 1.9 for lane miles.

We look forward to continuing to work with MassDOT on this important public safety and mobility issue.

Best regards,

Brendan Kearney

Deputy Director of Advocacy, WalkBoston

Boston Globe: “Dangerous intersections and roads in Boston and Springfield are about to get multimillion-dollar upgrades”

By WalkMassachusetts | February 1, 2023

Boston Globe: “Dangerous intersections and roads in Boston and Springfield are about to get multimillion-dollar upgrades”

Brendan Kearney, deputy director of the advocacy group WalkBoston, said he was pleased to see federal dollars going toward road safety, not just traffic congestion. It’s an urgent issue, he said, and one that is literally life-or-death.

He recalls a particularly urgent conversation with a manager at the Boch Center’s Wang Theatre at Stuart and Tremont Streets, one of the intersections targeted for safety improvements.

“He’s incredibly nervous about the safety of their patrons,” Kearney said.

Kearney noted that the commitment to Springfield is meaningful, too.

His group, which advocates for walkability in communities statewide, released a report last spring that found Springfield, despite being about a quarter of the population of Boston, had the same number of fatal pedestrian crashes in 2021. In 2022, Springfield saw 12 fatal crashes and 94 serious injury crashes, according to state data, and Boston saw 23 fatal crashes and 31 serious injury crashes.

Posted February 1, 2023

Walk Audit Academy (Worcester)

By WalkMassachusetts | January 23, 2023

We embarked on a new project that built on our virtual walk audit process and expanded our digital training opportunities: The goal of the “Walk Audit Academy” video series was to help people feel comfortable enough to perform their own walk audit, and to expand the number of people that we can reach. Karin Valentine Goins and the UMass Worcester Prevention Research Center (PRC) sees the video series as a way to create a sustainable training model based on the Capabilities for Public Health Agency Involvement in Land Use and Transportation Decision Making that PRC created through the CDC’s Physical Activity Policy Research Network (PAPRN) and the National Cancer Institute’s Speeding Research tested INTerventions (SPRINT) program.

In the “Walk Audit Academy” video series, we describe what goes into performing a walk audit and things to consider when planning a walk audit in a community. Modules in the series cover preparing for, conducting, and distilling results of a walk audit. The small, bite-sized videos are also less intimidating than one long video, and relevant segments can be shared on social media or for different audiences.

WalkBoston staff members lent their talents in front of the camera to share what goes into putting together a walk audit: including looking at crash data, creating a route, and what to remember to include on an invitation.

In November 2022, we piloted it with a cohort of volunteers in Worcester to train community leaders on how to lead walk audits and implement change, in a ‘flipped classroom’ style. People were able to learn at their own pace with the short videos and supporting materials. The five groups created their own routes, invited participants, and led their own walk audits. We offered sessions on Zoom for group feedback and discussion as well as drop in Zoom ‘office hours’ throughout the month of November to answer questions.

In January, we gathered again, and this time it was in person at the Worcester Senior Center! The participants gave an overview of each of their groups, where they led their walk audit in the city, and the findings and recommendations that came out of it. Some groups shared slides, others photos, and one group even put together a short video of their own with amateur drone footage from their walk audit.

There was a great energy in the room that night, and a real sense that something special is happening in Worcester right now. As we reflected on the evening, we realized that we were able to help teach 5x the amount of people compared to a traditional walk audit through this process. We look forward to rolling it out further in the coming months.