LOWELL INTERSECTIONS SOME OF THE MOST DANGEROUS IN STATE
Downtown, Centralville have highest crash rates
LOWELL >> Buckle up and double-check your car insurance coverage when driving in Lowell.
A new study based on data collected from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation shows Lowell as sharing the No. 6 spot with the town of Salisbury as having the most dangerous intersections in Massachusetts.
The data is based on research conducted by the personal injury law firm Jason Stone. The firm examined data compiled by MASSDOT between 2018 and 2020, and municipalities were ranked by the number of crashes versus population. Lowell’s total of 453 traffic incidents was based on 39 collisions per 10,000 people in a city of more than 115,000 residents.
City of Lowell Transportation Engineer Elizabeth Oltman said that Lowell faces unique challenges in the region given its dense network of streets, numerous and complex intersections, and bridges that act as pinch points to the smooth flow of traffic.
“The City is always working to study identified high-crash 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 by email on Thursday.
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, that roadway was a grade separated diamond interchange comprised of a rotary with four closely spaced, signalized intersections. If you had to read that twice to conceptualize the thoroughfare, imagine the challenges to navigating it at speed.
The intersection was completely redesigned as part of Lowell’s 2015 Complete Streets policy to transform the roadway into a multimodal transportation network to include 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…”
But several hazardous intersections remain, with the downtown and the Centralville neighborhoods combined totals almost half of the city’s crashes.
Downtown streets like Appleton at Central and Appleton at Gorham just one 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 has several hotspots. VFW Highway at Aiken and Aiken at Ennell logged 40 crashes with 10 non-serious injuries.
The traffic at the VFW Highway at Bridge Street and Lakeview at Bridge Street intersections recorded a shocking 91 crashes with 1 fatal/serious injury and 21 non-serious/possible injuries. These two spots were also particularly dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists.
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.
Traffic data shows 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.
Senator Ed Markey, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, reintroduced a bill to address roadway safety called The Complete Streets Act, which would improve the safety and accessibility of transportation routes across the nation.
The act 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 for children, seniors, and people with disabilities by prioritizing infrastructure for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit users.
Eligible local and regional entities can use funds from their state’s Complete Streets Program for technical assistance and capital funding to build safe street projects such as 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.
Although not noted as top crash clusters on the MASSDOT site, several intersections along West Sixth Street, including Aiken Avenue, Ennell Street, Boisvert Street and Bunker Hill Avenue have crash rates that are higher than the average MASSDOT crash rates.
A Transportation Impact Assessment by Vanasse & Associates, Inc. for the developers of the St. Louis property development, found vehicle speeds of 36 to 39 mph along W. Sixth St., significantly higher than the posted 30 mph.
Oltman said the City Council passed a city-wide 25 mph speed limit that will help reduce crashes and injuries.
“I believe that we have made some progress in the last couple of years, but there is always work to be done,” she said.