Congested roads like Lowell’s will always face a higher accident risk

If you feel like you’ve tempting fate every time you drive around the streets of Lowell, you’re not alone.

Massachusetts Department of Transportation data support that unsettling contention.

A new study based on information collected from MassDOT puts Lowell in a tie with the seaside town of Salisbury for the sixth most dangerous intersections in Massachusetts.

The data, based on research conducted by the personal injury law firmjason Stone, examined reports compiled by MASSDOT from 2018 to 2020. Municipalities were ranked by the number of crashes per capita. Lowell’s 453 traffic incidents were based on 39 collisions per 10,000 people in a city of more than 115,000 residents.

That probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who frequently traverses Lowell’s compact roadways, replete with intersections that seemingly dare drivers to push the legal envelope.

Elizabeth Oltman, the city’s transportation engineer, told the newspaper that Lowell faces unique challenges, given its dense network of streets, numerous complex intersections, and bridges that act as impediments to the smooth flow of traffic.

“The City is always working to study identified highcrash locations to see what can be done to improve safety for all users, whether it is increased visibility for pedestrians through repainted crosswalks or applying for grants to restore sidewalks on our bridges,” she said via email.

She noted that MASSDOT has updated some of its jurisdiction intersections on its interactive site to reflect roadway changes, such as the Thorndike Street project.

Previously, a section of that roadway ran underneath a rotary — the only one we know of with traffic lights to impede movement— with four closely spaced intersections that further complicated an already daunting roundabout.

Fortunately, that problematic circular route was completely reconfigured as part of Lowell’s 2015 Complete Streets policy, which transformed it into a one-level roadway designed to accommodate buses, cars, pedestrians and bicyclists.

“There are more pedestrians and bicyclists using our streets and sidewalks than ever before and everyone deserves to feel safe on our roads,” Oltman said.

“Since 2020, several intersections have been modified to increase safety, such as the Thorndike Street project…”

That’s the good news. But several hazardous intersections remain, with the downtown and Centralville neighborhoods accounting for almost half of the city’s accidents.

Downtown streets, specifically Appleton at Central and Appleton at Gorham just a block away, collectively logged a staggering 87 crashes with 1 fatal/serious injury and 28 non-serious/possible injuries.

Across the Merrimack

River, the Centralville neighborhood presents several potential crash zones. The VFW Highway at Aiken and Aiken at Ennell triggered 40 crashes with 10 non-serious injuries.

The traffic at the VFW Highway at Bridge Street intersection and the nearby Lakeview Ave.-bridge Street cross point recorded 91 crashes, with 1 fatal/serious injury and 21 non-serious/possible injuries. These two spots are also particularly dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists — and for motorists trying to navigate around them.

Other neighborhood streets like Branch at School Street logged 43 crashes with 1 fatal/ serious injury and 17 non-serious injuries. Nesmith and Andover streets reported 45 crashes, with 1 fatal/serious and 14 non-serious/possible injuries, partly due to the jockeying of motorists as the roadway merges from two lanes into one. That’s been alleviated substantially by the widening of Nesmith Street between Andover and the Hunts Falls Bridge.

Traffic data show that after falling from 2017 to 2019, accident rates dramatically increased in 2020 and 2021, with 2022 as the deadliest year for pedestrians in more than 40 years. That aligns with the overall disregard of traffic laws statewide during the height of the pandemic.

Ed Markey, our junior U.S. senator and a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has reintroduced The Complete Streets Act, a bill to address roadway safety.

Supporters say it would make roads safer and more accessible by ensuring that states direct a portion of their federal highway funding towards the creation of a Complete Streets Program, which provides safe and accessible transportation options by prioritizing infrastructure for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit users.

Eligible municipal and regional entities can use funds from their state’s Complete Streets Program for technical assistance and capital funding to build sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks and bus stops.

The legislation would also phase in a requirement for states to incorporate Complete Streets elements into all new construction and reconstruction .

hile well-intentioned, federal roadway legislation like the kind proposed by

Sen. Markey has its limitations, especially in densely populated old mill cities like Lowell, Fitchburg and Leominster.

Bike lanes might make sense in less dense, suburban communities, but they only further constrict already congested roadways in urban areas, leading to an increased — not decreased — potential for accidents, the antithesis of their stated goal.

For crash-prone cities like Lowell, synchronizing traffic lights at intersections and allowing right turns — after a full stop — at all street junctions would lead to more fluid traffic flow and reduce the likelihood of an accident waiting to happen.

“There are more pedestrians and bicyclists using our streets and sidewalks than ever before and everyone deserves to feel safe on our roads.”

— Elizabeth Oltman, the city’s transportation engineer