Vision Zero
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City of Boston Proposes Safety Improvements for Mattapan Square
To improve safety - particularly for the thousands of transit riders who pass through the square - the City of Boston's Transportation Department is proposing to close the wide right-turn slip lane in front of the Mattapan trolley terminal, widen sidewalks to reduce crosswalk distances, and add a new crosswalk across the Blue Hills Parkway to provide more direct access to the T station and the Neponset Greenway from the neighborhoods to the west.
February 16, 2022
What’s the Groundbreaking New USDOT Safety Strategy — and What’s Missing
For the first time in history, the United States Department of Transportation has committed to using every available resource to end roadway deaths and serious injuries on American roads — and now, they face the critical challenge of getting the rest of America to buy in with them.
January 27, 2022
Internal Email Raises Safety Concerns for Dorchester’s Beades Bridge
After David Jones fell to his death on a broken stairway near the JFK/UMass station, a high-ranking @MassDCR official emailed his colleagues with a warning: “This incident gives me new motivation on the Beades issue.”
January 26, 2022
City of Springfield Proposes Road Diet, Traffic Calming for Deadly Downtown Block
State Street in Springfield ranks as one of the Commonwealth's deadliest streets, and it runs through the middle of the city's historically Black neighborhoods. A city proposal would introduce measures to calm traffic, but it's limited to just one block on the edge of the city's downtown.
January 19, 2022
2021 Was A Record-Breaking Year For Deaths on Massachusetts Roadways
At least 408 people died in crashes in Massachusetts during 2021, making it the deadliest year on Massachusetts roadways in over a decade.
January 10, 2022
Guest Column: Another Crash Highlights State Inaction on Somerville’s ‘Corridor of Death’
Mystic Avenue is a state road under MassDOT’s jurisdiction and, together with MassDOT-controlled McGrath Highway, comprises Somerville’s “Corridor of Death.” It has been the site of three pedestrian deaths in less than two years.
December 21, 2021
Boston Planning Additional Crosswalk, Bike Lane Upgrades Around Public Garden
The proposed intersection improvements around the Public Garden would upgrade the "Connect Downtown" bike lanes, give more space to people on foot, and transform a former right-turn lane into new parkland for the Boston Common.
December 14, 2021
With MassDOT’s Promised Safety Upgrades in Limbo, More Carnage on Somerville’s Mystic Ave.
"We had to bring in Rep. Ayanna Pressley just to get a crosswalk. We have to publicly shame MassDOT for months and months, and all we get are empty promises.”
December 7, 2021
Wisconsin Car Attack is an Example of Our Failure to Prevent Cars Being Used as Weapons
Policy, culture, and environment create conditions that all too often permit such crimes — and by failing to address those conditions, advocates argue, we practically ensure that such atrocities will continue to happen.
November 24, 2021
Vigil for Crash Victims Amplifies Need for Safer Streets in Springfield
Sunday was the World Day of Remembrance, an annual memorial for the lives lost to traffic crashes.
November 22, 2021