Tag: MassDOT

GBH: “As driving-related casualties mount, what would make Massachusetts roads safer?”

GBH: “As driving-related casualties mount, what would make Massachusetts roads safer?”

GBH: “As driving-related casualties mount, what would make Massachusetts roads safer?

Those grim numbers are the backdrop for a new push by the city of Boston to make its streets safer by deploying speed bumps, redesigning problem intersections, and revamping the use of traffic signals. Could Boston’s plan serve as a model for other communities? And what could state government be doing to decrease fatalities? Adam Reilly discusses with Brendan Kearney, the deputy director of WalkMassachusetts, and Stacy Thompson, the executive director of Livable Streets.

Segment initially aired June 2, 2023

Report: MA Fatal Pedestrian Crashes Up 35%; More than 70% Occurred in Environmental Justice Neighborhoods

Report: MA Fatal Pedestrian Crashes Up 35%; More than 70% Occurred in Environmental Justice Neighborhoods

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jovanny Rosado
jrosado@denterlein.com
773-490-8469

Report: MA Fatal Pedestrian Crashes Up 35%; More than 70% Occurred in Environmental Justice Neighborhoods

WalkBoston calls on MassDOT to release an action plan for safe streets, and for the legislature to fund staff and resources to support eliminating fatal crashes

BOSTON (March 30, 2023) – A report released today by WalkBoston, a statewide pedestrian advocacy organization, shows fatal pedestrian crashes in Massachusetts are up by 35% in 2022 compared to 2021, with 71% of crashes taking place in Environmental Justice Census Block Groups. 

Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022) also shows that of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, 60 had a fatal pedestrian crash in 2022, and older adults were hit and killed at a higher rate than those in other age groups. 

“The sharp rise in fatal crashes is extremely troubling,” said Brendan Kearney, Deputy Director of WalkBoston. “Unsafe road design is creating fatal consequences for communities across the Commonwealth. Designing our streets to reduce illegal speeding — targeting the most dangerous locations first for fixes — will save lives.”

Of the 101 fatal pedestrian crashes, 72 occurred in Environmental Justice neighborhoods. In 2021, the legislature passed An Act Creating a Next Generation Roadmap for MA Climate Policy, which defines an Environmental Justice (EJ) Population as an area meeting state criteria related to household income, higher minority populations, and higher populations for whom English is a second language. 

“Residents in environmental justice neighborhoods deserve the ability to walk and move through their community without the threat of being hit and killed by someone operating a vehicle,” said Tahara Samuel, Community Planning Manager of Madison Park Development Corporation. “The findings in the report that more people have died in fatal crashes this year than last should be a wake up call for state and municipal leaders that the status quo is not working. We agree with WalkBoston that the Commonwealth needs to prioritize protecting people and designing our streets to ensure safe streets for all. The City of Boston can start with the upcoming Roxbury Corridors project, a chance to hear from community members on how to make investments to fix Warren Street, Malcolm X Boulevard, and Melnea Cass Boulevard.”

Similar to the concerning trend found in last year’s version of this report, older adults were hit and killed at a higher rate than those in other age groups: 38% of fatal crash victims were over the age of 65. In Massachusetts, only 17% of the population is over 65, yet people 50 and over made up over 65% of pedestrian crash deaths in 2022.

“Nearly everyone is a pedestrian at some point in the day. Safer streets mean more people remain in their current homes or community as they age, said Mike Festa, State Director of AARP Massachusetts. “An age friendly community means complete, smartly planned streets, and transportation options are great for people of all ages; A street that’s safe for a 70-year-old to cross to shop is safe for a 7-year-old walking to school. What this new report shows us is that we can and must do better to make roads safer for all residents of the Commonwealth.” 

WalkBoston calls upon MassDOT, the legislature, and local municipalities to take immediate actions to create safer streets:

  • MassDOT recently released a Strategic Highway Safety Plan featuring sections on implementing speed management and addressing top-risk locations and populations. MassDOT must hasten efforts to release an Action Plan based on the Strategic Highway Safety Plan. 
  • It is crucial to identify how these recommendations will be implemented and funded by the legislature. 
  • Every municipality that has experienced a fatal crash should take steps to become an Age-Friendly Community. According to data from AARP, the population of the United States is rapidly aging, and by 2030, one of every five people in the U.S. will be 65 or older.

60 Massachusetts cities and towns had at least one fatal pedestrian crash in 2022. Of those, 19 municipalities had multiple fatal crashes: Boston (12), Worcester (7), Chicopee (5), Brockton, Framingham, Lowell, Springfield (3/each); Cambridge, Dedham, Easthampton, Gardner, Haverhill, Holyoke, New Bedford, Quincy, Salem, Sharon, West Springfield, Yarmouth (2/each). 

Additionally, 60% of Massachusetts’ fatal pedestrian crashes occurred in the dark (before sunrise or after sunset). And 10 (9.8%) were hit and run crashes in which the driver left the scene of the crash.

The report reviews fatal pedestrian crash data released on the MassDOT IMPACT Crash Portal and Fatal Crash Information Dashboard. The locations were cross-referenced in the MassDOT Road Inventory Tool to determine the road jurisdiction and speed limit. Google Street View was used to find additional local context.

 

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View the full report

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

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

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.

  1. 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.
  2. Include sidewalk clearance responsibilities in the table showing MassDOT SICP roles and responsibilities (Table 1.2 on page 6 of the report)
  3. 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

Continued emphasis on snow clearance for pedestrians!

Continued emphasis on snow clearance for pedestrians!

MassDOT’s recently published Snow and Ice Control Program details many of the steps that MassDOT will take to deal with the impacts of its application of chemicals on roadway, a required filing to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental and Energy Affairs (EEA). 

In 2021, WalkBoston urged regulators to require MassDOT to include specific, trackable and verifiable progress toward meeting the scope of pedestrian needs in its next filing on the MassDOT Snow and Ice Control Program, and to use its own Pedestrian Plan commitments as the baseline for reporting. 

At the end of December 2022, MassDOT released an update, which includes these passages: 

  • “Chapter 1 provides an update on MassDOT’s roadway lane-miles and describes new measures to build capacity to address the snow and ice removal needs on sidewalks and pedestrian facilities as identified in the 2019 Pedestrian Transportation Plan and as requested by the WalkBoston following review of the 2022 ESPR SOW Plan.”
  • “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. MassDOT also provides 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. Details on eligible projects can be found at the following link: https://www.mass.gov/shared-streets-and-spaces-grant-program

We are pleased that MassDOT has made new commitments to improve their maintenance of state owned sidewalks. WalkBoston will follow up with MassDOT at the end of the 2022/23 winter season to learn how the new initiatives have been carried out, whether they have proved successful, and to find out whether the agency will plan any additional adjustments to continue making improvements. Check out the links below to read the report for yourself!

Documents

Joint support letter for MassDOT proposal to USDOT’s FY2022 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program

Joint support letter for MassDOT proposal to USDOT’s FY2022 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program

Joint support letter for MassDOT proposal to USDOT’s FY2022 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program

May 23, 2022

The Honorable Pete Buttigieg
Secretary of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

Please accept this letter from a broad coalition of transportation, environmental, business, and community stakeholders in support of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) application for USDOT’s FY2022 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) assistance to help fund its I-90 Allston Multimodal Project located in the City of Boston.

The I-90 Allston Multimodal Project creates an opportunity to dramatically improve livability and connectivity for residents of Boston’s Allston neighborhood, an environmental justice population defined by Massachusetts law, while enhancing regional mobility and creating a significant new multimodal passenger train station for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). In 1965, Massachusetts officials opened the Allston section of I-90, shoehorning an eight-lane elevated highway between Boston University and the Charles River, dividing a vibrant working-class community, shutting down important passenger rail stations, and wounding important riverfront habitat in the process. The highway was designed and built prior to the protections now provided by the National Environmental Policy Act, and financed without federal funding through bonds secured by tolls. Some 60 years later, Boston still endures harmful impacts from this obsolete, failed transportation policy that placed a highway above the needs of neighborhoods and the environment.

The Allston Viaduct is nearing the end of its useful lifespan. Since the spring of 2014, MassDOT has been developing a concept to replace the Allston Interchange and Viaduct. The MassDOT team worked with a Task Force composed of local residents, advocates, elected and appointed officials, representatives of local institutions and businesses, and the Allston community at-large – many of whom have signed onto this support letter. In September 2021, MassDOT identified the Modified At- Grade Option as the focus for the Allston I-90 MultiModal Project and selected the Modified At-Grade design–the clear consensus option–as its preferred alternative. We are committed to continuing our work with MassDOT to see the project to completion – building a future where the needs of public transit riders, cyclists, pedestrians, and the health of the river are as important as motorists traveling on this section of interstate.

The I-90 Allston Multimodal Project fulfills each of the USDOT’s six selection criteria in terms of project outcomes:

A. Safety: Addresses known safety problems and helps to protect both motorized and non-motorized users. The Modified At-Grade Option addresses known safety problems and protects motorized users by providing the safest horizontal alignment and vertical profile for the replacement of the functionally deficient existing I-90 viaduct by reducing curves and steep grades, which will reduce excessive speeds and crash rates. By removing reverse curves and providing wider and separated paths, it also enhances the safety of non-motorized users by increasing pedestrian and bicycle connectivity.

B. State of Good Repair: Addresses current and projected vulnerabilities that, if left unimproved, threaten future transportation network efficiency, mobility of goods or accessibility and mobility of people, or economic growth. The Modified At-Grade Option would replace the existing, deteriorating I-90 viaduct with a new at-grade highway, and will result in lower maintenance costs and reduced vulnerability to deterioration in the future.

C. Economic Impacts, Freight Movement, and Job Creation: Improves system operations, improves multimodal transportation systems that incorporate affordable transportation options such as public transit to improve mobility of people and goods, results in high quality job creation by supporting good-paying jobs, and fosters economic development. The new highway interchange will free up some 75 acres for new ground and air-rights development in one of the largest remaining underdeveloped areas of Boston.

D. Climate Change, Resiliency, and the Environment: Reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and results in a modal shift that reduces emissions. The Modified At-Grade Option will reduce congestion associated with the highway interchange, create a new major multimodal transit station, and enhance pedestrian and bicycle connectivity. It also allows for a living shoreline, or other nature-based solutions, to increase climate resiliency, improve habitat for living resources, and enhance active and passive recreation.

E. Equity, Multimodal Options, and Quality of Life: Increases affordable and accessible transportation choices by providing a new major multimodal transit station, enhanced pedestrian and bicycle access to the Charles River basin, new environmental enhancements and noise reduction strategies alongside the Allston and Cambridge sides of the river. The project would reunite two parts of an environmental justice population that has been divided for more than two generations by the original, elevated Turnpike.

F. Innovation: Adopts innovative practices in project delivery and financing by providing for design-build procurement and innovative approaches to highway and transit financing, as well as an ongoing task force of over 50 stakeholders to continue its important advisory role. As residents, business, environmental, institutional, and transportation advocates, we remain deeply invested in this project and know the support of the USDOT’s FY2022 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant will help move this long awaited project toward construction and completion.

Sincerely,

Douglas Arcand, Allston resident
Jay Arcand & Rita DiGiovanni, Allston business & property owners
Stacey Beuttell, Executive Director, WalkBoston
Rebecca Bowie, President, Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association
Tina Chan, Allston resident
Anthony D’Isidoro, Allston resident; President, Allston Civic Association; MassDOT I-90 Allston Task
Force member
Kendra Foley and Caleb Hurst-Hiller, Interim Co-Presidents, Kendall Square Association
Laura Jasinski, Executive Director, Charles River Conservancy; MassDOT I-90 Allston Task Force
member
Erika Johnson, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, Allston Resident
Jarred Johnson, Executive Director, Transit Matters
Wendy Landman, Senior Policy Advisor, WalkBoston; MassDOT I-90 Allston Task Force member
Anna Leslie, Director, Allston Brighton Health Collaborative
Harry Mattison, Allston resident, MassDOT I-90 Allston Task Force member
Steve Miller, 350 Mass/Cambridge
Galen Mook, Executive Director, MassBike
Josh Ostroff, Interim Director, Transportation for Massachusetts
Deb Pasternak, Chapter Director, Sierra Club of Massachusetts
Cheryl Pavlik, Brighton resident
Jessica Robertson, Allston resident; MassDOT I-90 Allston Task Force member
Staci Rubin, Vice President, Environmental Justice, Conservation Law Foundation
Hazel Ryerson, Allston resident, MassDOT I-90 Allston Task Force member
Stacy Thompson, Executive Director, LivableStreets Alliance
Julia Wallerce, Boston Program Manager, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy
Jack Wofford, Cambridgeport resident; Cambridge Community Representative to MassDOT I-90
Allston Task Force
Becca Wolfson, Executive Director, Boston Cyclist Union
Fred Yalouris, Cambridge Community representative, MassDOT I-90 Allston Task Force
Cathie Zusy, President, Magazine Beach Partners

CC: Jonathan Gulliver, Highway Administrator, MassDOT; The Honorable Michelle Wu, Mayor, City of Boston: Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief of Streets, Transportation, and Sanitation, City of Boston: Christopher Coes, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, USDOT: Paul Baumer, Program Manager, Office of Infrastructure Finance and Innovation, USDOT