Boston Will Begin Construction Next Week On Safety Improvements At Scene of Louisa Gag’s Homicide
The City of Boston plans to begin construction next week on safety improvements to the intersection of Tremont, Parker, and Terrace Streets, where a truck driver struck and killed City Hall employee Louisa Gag earlier this summer.
“The safety improvements and design changes on Tremont Street in the Roxbury Crossing area will make the corridor work better for residents and all road users, while laying the groundwork for additional improvements in this area in the future,” interim Chief of Streets Chris Osgood said in a statement. “We will continue to act urgently to prevent crashes, make our streets safer for everyone, and carry forward the important work that Louisa believed in so deeply.”
StreetsblogMASS has requested a copy of the city’s plans, and will update this story if we obtain a copy. In the meantime, a city spokesperson offered a written list of the planned safety improvements, which will use “quick-build” materials like paint to reconfigure the street and its intersections.
Bike lane protection: The city’s project will create a short segment of parking-protected bike lanes between Terrace and Parker, by shifting the curbside parking lanes closer to the center of the roadway and relocating the bike lane to the curb.
Clear corners: The city also plans to improve visibility at crosswalks and intersections by removing one parking spot on the south side of Tremont Street, and using tan paint to serve as a visual extension of curb space at the intersection of Parker and Tremont.
A city spokesperson noted that this will be a new “quick-build” tactic for the City of Boston, but it’s been used extensively in other cities, including New York and Somerville.
Turn restriction: The city will also restrict left turns from Tremont (eastbound) onto Parker (northbound).
Some reports have suggested that the truck driver who killed Gag struck her when he swerved into Tremont Street’s unprotected, paint-only bike lane in order to pass another vehicle that had been waiting to make that left turn.
Several elements of the plan would also implement recommendations from the city’s 2023 “Mission Hill Transportation Planning Project,” which had previously identified these two intersections as the most serious safety risks in the immediate area.
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