Category: Announcement

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!

WalkMassachusetts Network August Meeting Topic: Public Bathroom Access

WalkMassachusetts Network August Meeting Topic: Public Bathroom Access

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The WalkMassachusetts Network meets every third Wednesday of each month at 1 pm, with the next being August 17, 2022. Our August presenter is Amith Saligrama, a high school student at the Commonwealth School in Boston passionately interested in improving our local communities. You can register for the August 17, 1pm meeting here.

He is the creator of bathroomaccess.com which maps and lists public (not private) toilets in the Greater Boston area. He found most city websites include a list of parks, trails, and even water-filling stations, but not restrooms. However, if there are no mentions of restrooms, how inclusive are we being? Over time, his goal has become equally balanced between helping people find restrooms and advocating for our local communities to acknowledge all biological needs and be welcoming to all who use our public space.

His interest in developing this map began in 2020, when his grandparents began to limit their daily walks due to a lack of restroom access. He realized that there are many people like his grandparents – parents with toddlers, taxi and delivery drivers – who need access to restrooms. This is a situation that has become more challenging since COVID-19 as private businesses have become reluctant to allow non-customers into their facilities.

Amith spoke to Grecia White from Streetsblog MASS (last month’s speaker!) about this effort: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/07/25/public-bathroom-access-an-undervalued-but-necessary-element-of-walking-transit-infrastructure/

WalkMassachusetts Network monthly meetings are free and open to anyone who wants to make a difference on walking efforts in their own community. We hope you’ll join us on August 17 at 1pm. Sign up here.

July 2022 Network Meeting Recap

July 2022 Network Meeting Recap

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At the July monthly meeting of the WalkMassachusetts Network, StreetsBlogMASS Editor Christian MilNeil and Reporter Grecia White presented their work to report on transportation issues across Massachusetts, which now includes reporting stories in Spanish and covering a variety of intersectional topics such as public bathroom access and the effects of disrupted T service on riders. 

You can view a recording of the meeting and their presentation here as well as a recording of our May meeting with MassDOT and their presentation on their new speed management guidance. You can read more of Grecia and Christian’s work at mass.streetsblog.org, or contact them here if you’ve got a story to pitch! 

The WalkMassachusetts Network meets every third Wednesday of each month at 1 pm, with the next being August 17, 2022, where the topic of discussion will be public amenities that support walkability — particularly public bathrooms. You can register for next month’s meeting here.

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, June 2022

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, June 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 ten fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in May. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in June 2022. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Crash Information.” The Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

  • Of the 44 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in June in the MassDOT Crash portal, five were identified as people walking.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in June was 51.5. (One person’s age has not been released.)
Date 6/1/2022, 10:09 AM
Location 72 King St.
Town Northampton
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 75
Sex M

WWLP reported that a person was struck by the driver of a vehicle on King Street in Northampton. We could not find any additional news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There is one travel lane in each direction, street parking on each side, and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is 25mph.

Date 6/3/2022, 11:30 PM
Location 235 Alewife Brook Parkway
Town Cambridge
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 63
Sex M

We could not find any news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDCR jurisdiction. A short section of the rotary is also under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes and a shoulder as the roadway approaches the rotary, a divided median, two travel lanes as it leaves the rotary, and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date 6/4/2022, 1:03 AM
Location Storrow Dr. EAST, west of Leverett Cir.
Town Boston
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 22
Sex M

Lynn’s Daily Item reported that 22 year old Brandon Jennings was struck and killed by Miguel Rodriguez, 36, who was driving on Storrow Drive near the ramp to the Tobin Bridge and Interstate 93 north. Rodriguez fled the scene. Another person driving on Storrow Drive at the time witnessed the crash and followed the driver to Lynn, reporting the location and license plate number to police.

Rodriguez has been charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of liquor, operating under the influence of liquor, leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in injury or death, and failure to stop or yield.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, sections of this part of the road are under local jurisdiction while others are under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are three or four travel lanes in each direction, a divided median, and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is listed at 30mph.

Date 6/22/2022, 3:57 AM
Location 1576 State St.
Town Springfield
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 46
Sex F

We could not find any news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

State Street was the deadliest street in Springfield for pedestrians in 2021. In early June 2022, WWLP reported that the City of Springfield initiated a pilot effort to slow drivers down on the section of State Street near the library:

Those temporary improvements will include narrowing the roadway from two lanes on each side of the road down to one with traffic cones and barricades in order to study the effect of the changes to pedestrian safety.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes in each direction and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date 6/24/2022, 9:55 PM
Location I-95 NORTH, MM 20.6
Town Walpole
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age
Sex UNK

We could not find any news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are three travel lanes on the north side, a shoulder, and a divided median. The speed limit is 65mph.

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).