Author: WalkMassachusetts

Have you seen the wayfinding signs popping up in Medford?

Have you seen the wayfinding signs popping up in Medford?

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Earlier this month, we helped the City of Medford install wayfinding signs that were implemented with funding from a MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces grant. Increasing walking as a useful part of everyday life is a shared objective of many stakeholders in Massachusetts. One potential strategy to do so is installing wayfinding signs, which can give people clear information about walking routes and walking times to reach key destinations. We think the signs in Medford turned out great! The City hopes to gather feedback on the signs to inform future efforts, so a QR code was included so people have a place they can go to get more information.

WalkBoston has previously worked with communities through different Department of Public Health Programs (Mass in Motion & 1422) to implement systems of wayfinding signage. Learn more about these previous efforts and our methodology for implementation on our wayfinding page.

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Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, July 2022

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, July 2022

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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. Earlier this year, we released a year in review for 2021 to highlight common issues.

Last month, we took a look at five fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in June. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in July 2022. 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 36 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in July in the MassDOT Crash portal, none were identified as people walking.
  • The data portal includes fatal crash data dating back to 2015. July 2022 is the only month without a fatal pedestrian crash listed. This information is still preliminary, and could be adjusted.
  • There are only six months between 2015-2022 that are listed with less than three fatal pedestrian crashes:
    • January 2020 – 2
    • February 2020 – 1
    • May 2020 – 2
    • October 2020 – 1
    • June 2017 – 2
    • July 2016 – 2
  • Despite a blank for the month of July, the 2022 pedestrian Year to Date number is still discouraging; this is the first time since at least 2015 where Massachusetts has had at least 50 pedestrian fatal crashes through the end of July.

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 2022 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)

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).

Event: WalkBoston’s Talk the Walk Session: “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer,” 9/29 12pm on Zoom

Event: WalkBoston’s Talk the Walk Session: “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer,” 9/29 12pm on Zoom

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WalkBoston’s Talk the Walk Session
“Confessions of a Recovering Engineer”
September 29, 12-1pm
Register for this event

Lunch hour discussion session on Zoom. Open to all. Eating is encouraged. Video is optional. 

“Talk the Walk” is our topic-driven discussion session (not just books!). These discussion sessions may include articles, podcasts, videos, and yes, maybe even a book or two. This session features the book “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer” by Chuck Marohn. The author will be joining us for a brief presentation to kick things off, followed by breakout groups for discussion questions, and if time allows, an author Q&A.

Charles Marohn, professional engineer and founder of the Strong Towns movement, lifts the curtain on America’s transportation system in his newest book, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer. In this book tour presentation, Marohn demonstrates how the values of engineers and other transportation professionals are applied in the design process, and how those priorities differ from the values of the general public. By showing how transportation investments are a means to an end and not an end unto themselves, Marohn reveals how the standard approach to issues like fighting congestion, addressing speeding, and designing intersections only makes transportation problems worse, at great cost in terms of both safety and resources. By contrast, the Strong Towns approach to transportation focuses on bottom-up techniques for spending less and getting higher returns, all while improving quality of life for residents of a community.

Discussion questions: 

  • Discuss Marohn’s distinguishing between a “Road” and a “Street.” Do you agree? Is it helpful? Where does this distinction not hold up?
  • Marohn indicates the hierarchy of engineer values are for road design for vehicles: speed, volume, safety, cost; where the public’s hierarchy is safety, cost, volume, speed. Agree? Disagree? How are these values reflected?
  • Has your experience with civil engineers & consultants reflected what Marohn is confessing? Do you see change happening? Examples?

Register for this meeting:

https://www.givesignup.org/TicketEvent/TalkTheWalk 

You will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

Articles to get you started:

Not sure if you’ll have time to read the whole book before 9/29 but still want to participate? A website with supplemental material was created to accompany the book. We’d encourage you to check out info from the intro and first three chapters.  

Want to go deeper? Buy the book! 

We encourage you to buy it from your local bookstore, or find a store near you via Bookshop. 

Here are a few stores you might consider supporting: 

WalkBoston and Consult LeLa team up for Blue Hill Ave youth workshop

WalkBoston and Consult LeLa team up for Blue Hill Ave youth workshop

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Consult LeLa, a consulting group dedicated to encouraging youth involvement in municipal planning processes, partnered with WalkBoston to lead a workshop series on walkability and equitable transit infrastructure, and conduct a walk audit on Blue Hill Ave in Mattapan Square. The goal was to encourage community involvement in the redesign of Blue Hill Ave that will expand transit, walking, and biking access. The workshops also focused on planning community events and presenting community findings and feedback to City of Boston staff.

On Wednesday, August 3, WalkBoston and Consult LeLa members led a walk audit for participants in the Blue Hill Ave Youth Workshop. Staff and participants walked a half mile from Mattapan Square towards the library, noting any key concerns about pedestrian and transit infrastructure. Key points of discussion included: extreme heat, lack of shade, high speed traffic, need for trash receptacles, and desire for bike lanes or biking infrastructure. 

Ish, one of the students involved in the Youth Engagement Committee with Consult LeLa, presented the data collected from this walk audit to City of Boston staff on Friday, August 26, 2022. On a day in Mattapan when the air temperature was 80 degrees, the surface temperature of a bus stop bench was 105 degrees & a sidewalk with no shade was 116 degrees. The surface temperature of a shady sidewalk under a tree was significantly lower: 92 degrees.

They also plan to share their concerns with other youth in the area by creating educational content to be shared on social media. We truly enjoyed working with Consult LeLa and the youth advocates and hope our partnership continues!

New resource announcement: “How to Report A Problem” in your community

New resource announcement: “How to Report A Problem” in your community

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Improving walking conditions in your community is much easier when you know who to talk to about solving problems. In an effort to make this process easier, WalkBoston has developed an interactive map of Massachusetts with guidance about finding the right person to talk to for all of the state’s 351 municipalities. 

The map includes links to several pieces of information for each community: online reporting tools where they exist; a link to a state map showing who owns every road; MassDOT Highway District offices, Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) regional offices, regional planning agencies, and regional transit authorities. The new web page contains guidance on who to contact about a problem. Sometimes it takes a few tries to find the right person who can help you–please be persistent. Your concern is worth their attention!

The map will continue to evolve over time. If we learn of a new local reporting system, we will add the link to the webpage. If you find that we are missing a particular reporting resource, you can use the form at the bottom of the new webpage to let us know. We appreciate your contributions to making this tool more useful.  

The creation of this resource was inspired by our connection with travel trainers and family caregivers through our age-friendly communities work. The people we spoke with were well aware of infrastructure problems which negatively impacted their clients and family members, but did not know how to start getting them fixed. Our work with the travel trainers and family caregivers is supported by an Age-Friendly Walking grant funded by Point32Health. WalkBoston hopes that this resource will make it easier for people to make positive changes in their communities. 

Everyone deserves to live in a safe, accessible, walkable community!