Category: Announcement

Thanks for coming on the 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

Thanks for coming on the 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

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Thank you so much to everyone who joined us yesterday for our 2023 Bob Sloane Walk! It was a pleasure to gather with friends, learn from our speakers, and enjoy a walk (despite the rain!) through downtown, Boston Common, and the South End. WalkMassachusetts has a yearly tradition of leading a free walk each spring along a short route that includes stops where we hear from guest speakers. This was our second year hosting a springtime walk in honor of Bob Sloane, a co-founder of WalkBoston who passed away in May 2021. He was a true pioneer in walking advocacy and a pillar of our organization. We thank those who shared loving memories of him throughout the event.  

We’d also like to say a big thank you also to our wonderful speakers! Shawn Quigley, a Park Ranger with the National Park Service, gave a moving account on the history of the 54th Regiment, one of the first Black regiments of the American Civil War, at their memorial just across the street from the State House. 

Nathan Frazee, a Project Manager from Boston Parks and Recreation Department shared about the process and implementation of the Boston Common Master Plan. 

The last talk was given under the arms of ‘The Embrace’ Memorial by Brian Sandford, a designer with MASS Design Group, the nonprofit architecture firm behind the memorial’s design and realization for their client, Embrace Boston. We ended the evening with drinks at MASS Design Group’s office space in the South End while perusing their “Making the Embrace” exhibit. Thank you to MASS for welcoming us into your fantastic space.

(We even glimpsed a rainbow before the sun set.) 

Thank you for helping us honor Bob Sloane’s legacy and continue his advocacy work. Keep an eye out for more events this summer! 

Catching up on all things East Boston!

Catching up on all things East Boston!

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Yesterday, May 21st, Senior Program Manager Iolando Spinola and Program Coordinator Ava Dimond tabled for WalkMassachusetts at the Boston Athletic Association Neighborhood Fitness Series, presented by Boston Children’s Hospital. The walk/run took place at East Boston Memorial Park and featured a free 1 mile and 2 mile run/walk course for participants of all ages and abilities. The event was lively with music and lawn games, and especially well-attended by families with young children.  

Senior Program Manager Iolando Spinola tabling for WalkMassachusetts

B.A.A.’s Neighborhood Fitness Series’ walk/run participants headed out at noon for their 1 or 2 mile course

We also had the opportunity to connect with participants and say hello to some walkers from Caminatas Seguras, a walking group in East Boston that convenes each Tuesday to enjoy local parks and green spaces and discuss ways to improve their neighborhood. WalkMassachusetts is partnering with Caminatas Seguras and GreenRoots on a three year grant program to improve accessibility to East Boston Parks called Connecting Kids and Families to Parks and Open Spaces. This grant is funded by Boston Children’s Hospital.

Last Tuesday, Iolando joined Caminatas Seguras for their first post-winter meeting at the American Legion playground to share food and new initiatives. GreenRoots and WalkMassachusetts then attended Mayor Wu’s Neighborhood Coffee Hours at Noyes Park in East Boston to discuss community concerns, open space and their neighborhoods (and enjoy some Dunkin’ Munchkins and ice coffee!)

Caminatas Seguras and Iolando Spinola following their walk last Tuesday

Event – 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

Event – 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

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Please join us on Wednesday, May 24th at 5:30pm for this year’s Bob Sloane Walk.

Sign up today!

This walk is in honor of Bob Sloane. Bob was a co-founder of WalkBoston (now WalkMassachusetts) and passed away in May 2021. He was a true pioneer in walking advocacy and a pillar of our organization, and we honor his legacy by hosting a walk each year in his name.

Each spring, we lead a free walk with a ~1-1.5 mile route that includes ~2-4 stops along the way where we hear from a guest speaker. We start or end near public transit, and usually end at a place where people can mingle/have a drink if they’d like to continue conversations.

Since this is a point-to-point walk, we encourage you to use public transportation, walk, or bike to the start so that it is easy for you to head out afterwards.

SPEAKERS & TOPICS

  • City Hall Plaza Redesign 
  • Park Ranger, National Park Service; Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial
  • Nathan Frazee, Project Manager, Boston Parks and Recreation Dept.; Boston Common Master Plan
  • Chris Scovel, RA, LEED; Design Director, MASS Design Group; The Embrace

ROUTE

We’re starting behind the Government Center MBTA Station (corner of Cambridge St and Court St), which is also where our first speaker will talk about the redesign of Boston’s City Hall Plaza. 

From there, we’ll walk along Tremont St, take a right on Beacon and get to the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial across from the State House, where a National Park Service Ranger will join us to talk about the monument and the renovations.

Next, we’ll head to the Frog Pond in the Boston Common, where we’ll be joined by Boston Parks to talk about the Boston Common Master Plan. We’ll then stop at The Embrace to hear from MASS Design Group about the memorial. From there, we will then continue on to MASS Design Group’s office in the South End where they currently have an exhibition called “Making the Embrace.” We’ll end with a drink on their outdoor deck, or invite you to check out one of the many bars and restaurants near their office in the South End!

The walk route is fully accessible. Since the Boston Common entrance at the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial only has stairs, we will use the sidewalk on Park Street toward Park St Station, and enter the Boston Common at the corner of Park and Tremont.

View the tentative route on Google Maps here.

We hope to see you on May 24th at 5:30pm. Please RSVP today!

WalkMassachusetts presents at BARI Conference 2023

WalkMassachusetts presents at BARI Conference 2023

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Last Friday, WalkMassachusetts’ Deputy Director of Advocacy Brendan Kearney presented at the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) Conference 2023: Greater Boston’s Annual Insight-to-Impact Summit. The BARI Conference aims to be a unique forum for community leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to share how they advance data-driven research and policy in Greater Boston—and how we could do even more through collective action. The conference took place at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, an inspiring space to listen to impactful talks, network with others, and imagine innovative ways to collect and utilize data.

 
Pictured right to left: Ava Dimond, Iolando Spinola, Althea Wong-Achorn, Brendan Kearney.

Brendan was one of four speakers on the topic of “Redesigning Transportation.” Brendan and Bonnie Polin of MassDOT co-authored the talk, entitled “MassDOT’s Impact Crash Portal (And How WalkMassachusetts And Other Advocates Use It).” MassDOT created the  IMPACT (Interactive Mapping Portal for Analysis & Crash Tracking) portal to make crash data that is reported by police departments more readily available to the public. IMPACT allows you to look at data through pre-built reports or conduct your own self-driven analysis; dashboards allow for interactive analysis & data exploration. The talks were moderated by Liz Williams, Ph.D., Director of Data and Policy at MassDOT‘s Office of Transportation Planning, while Jarred Johnson, Executive Director at TransitMatters, acted as provocateur asking follow up questions of the speakers before opening it up to the audience. 

WalkMassachusetts has used IMPACT to help communities identify high risk locations & encourage residents to push for safety changes. Using IMPACT, we published a report last March examining spatial and demographic patterns in fatal pedestrian crashes statewide. 

We would like to thank Bonnie and her team at MassDOT for making this data accessible to the public and for seeking feedback to continually improve the portal. Thank you to Liz and Jarred for a thought-provoking discussion following the talks, and to BARI for inviting WalkMassachusetts to discuss our experience with IMPACT. 

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, March 2023

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, March 2023

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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.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in February; eight were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in March 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 25 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in March in the MassDOT Crash portal, 6 were identified as people walking.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in March was 51.5.
  • Three of the crashes were hit & runs.
Date 3/1/2023, 7:07 PM
Location 61 Taunton St.
Town Plainville
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 46
Sex M

MassLive reports 46-year old William Murry was struck and killed by the driver of a Honda Accord at 7:07PM on Wednesday evening while walking along Taunton Street.

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 one side of the street. The speed limit is 40mph.

Date 3/16/2023, 9:50 AM
Location University Ave.
Town Westwood
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 82
Sex F

82-year old Alice Wedge was struck and killed at 9:50am on Thursday morning as she was trying to cross from a retail complex to the railway station. Boston.com reports two nurses stopped and gave her first aid until an ambulance arrived, but she passed away at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. Much of the information for University Avenue at this location is incomplete. It is a two-way street, with 3 travel lanes in each direction. There is a shared use path on one side and a sidewalk and street level bike lane on the other side of the street. The speed limit is unclear in the Road Inventory since it is listed as 99. The location is adjacent to the Route 128/University Park Commuter Rail/Amtrak Station and on/off ramps for 128/95.

Date 3/24/2023, 11:42 PM
Location South St.
Town Hatfield
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 19
Sex M

Western Mass News reports 19-year old Jesse Johansmeyer was struck and killed at 11:42pm on Friday night after a bonfire in a remote cornfield in a section known as the Hatfield Meadows which is off of Great Neponset Road and South Street and near the Connecticut River. The driver of the white pickup truck fled the scene.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a rural dirt road. The speed limit is unclear in the Road Inventory, and Street View is not available.

Date 3/26/2023, 5:03 PM
Location 3968 Washington St.
Town Boston
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 60
Sex M

60-year old Egdio D’Antuony was struck and killed while sitting on his porch at 5:03pm on Sunday afternoon when he was struck by a vehicle that crashed into the house. His friend, 62-year old Joseph Cobb, suffered life-threatening injuries. The driver of the vehicle that caused the crash fled the scene.

Boston 25 News reports:

Juan Medina, 20, is charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, leaving the scene of personal injury or death and failing to yield at an intersection for his alleged role in the deadly March 26 crash.

Prosecutors say, Medina, was driving south on Washington Street around 5 p.m. when he turned into the northbound lane. His sudden movement allegedly caused another car to collide with a minivan and then the triple-decker where Edigio D’Antuony and Joseph Cobb sat on the front porch.

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 and street parking on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date 3/27/2023, 4:59 PM
Location Logan Airport – Lower Roadway Terminal B
Town Boston
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 47
Sex M

WWLP reports 47-year old Vishwachand Kolla was struck and killed by the driver of a Dartmouth Transportation motor coach bus at 4:59pm on Monday afternoon as he was standing outside his SUV parked curbside as he waited to pick up a friend from the airport.

Boston 25 News spoke to a bystander:

“I’m like what happened.. to find out that someone lost their life tonight that affects somebody.. especially to know that you’re here the same place and it could have been you,” said Laura Vandiver, Logan Airport passenger.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under Massport jurisdiction. There are 3 through lanes and 1 curbside pickup/drop-off lane on the one-way roadway. The speed limit is 15mph.

Date 3/29/2023, 6:20 AM
Location 1000 Western Ave.
Town Lynn
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 55
Sex F

55-year old Emira Barucija was hit and killed in a crosswalk while walking to the bus stop on her morning commute to her job at Salem Hospital. The driver fled the scene. Lynn Police identified the suspect and located the suspect’s vehicle in a parking garage in the Longwood Medical area of Boston. Charges against the driver are anticipated, but not yet filed.

The Lynn Item spoke to an MBTA bus driver after the crash:

An MBTA bus driver, who spoke anonymously, said that at approximately 6 a.m. he saw the victim lying on the ground in the middle of the street, with another woman kneeling beside her.

The bus driver said a GE security guard responded to the scene just before he could call 911. He said that while driving his bus route, he sees erratic drivers in the area nearly every day.

“It’s crazy out here, you wouldn’t believe it,” he said.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 general travel lane and 1 bus/bike lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit in the Road Inventory is 30mph. (We’ve included a screenshot of the overhead view below, since the painted lanes are not yet updated on Google Street View.)

 

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 | 2023

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)
Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022)

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).