BOSTON – Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn is calling for a hearing at this week’s City Council meeting to discuss measures that would improve pedestrian safety, traffic-calming, and the possibility of expanding the Safety Surge program in the City of Boston. The hearing aims to discuss ways to slow down speeding cars, and installing better traffic safety infrastructure around the city, through the use of speed humps and raised crosswalks on main streets and commercial roads, high traffic corridors, and bus routes due to their high concentration of vehicles and pedestrians.
Last week, a 4-year-old child was fatally struck by a truck at Sleeper Street and Congress Street in the Fort Point Neighborhood, and there have been three pedestrian deaths in Boston so far this year, with seven pedestrian fatalities last year. These tragedies remind us of the work that must be done to realize Vision Zero.
In 2023, the City of Boston announced the Safety Surge program, where the City installs zones of speed humps on eligible neighborhood streets to make our streets safer for our pedestrians. However, speed humps are currently only being installed on smaller side streets, but not on wider and busier streets where cars are consistently speeding and serious crashes also occur. Main streets and commercial roads, high traffic corridors, and bus routes are often dangerous for pedestrians to cross, and would also benefit from traffic-calming infrastructure to force speeding vehicles to slow down. Many residents have long advocated for speed humps in these areas, and we should consider whether the Safety Surge program should be updated with infrastructure to be installed on high traffic roads to ensure road safety for all.
Pedestrian safety has long been a top priority for Councilor Flynn. In 2018, he recommended a 12-Point pedestrian safety plan for South Boston that called for the use of speed humps, raised crosswalks, pedestrian islands with rapid flash beacons, among other traffic-calming infrastructure. He has filed and held several City Council hearings focusing on pedestrian safety since he took office, including advocating for 20 mph speed limit zones that we now see in many residential neighborhoods. In 2019, he called for and held a Council hearing on concurrent traffic signals, as he voiced opposition to giving cars a green arrow in conflict with pedestrian crossing signs. He called for declaring speeding cars as a Public Health Emergency in 2020, and also for a portion of the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill funding for the city to be dedicated to address long-standing pedestrian safety needs with improved traffic-calming infrastructure back in 2021. This hearing is the latest in Councilor Flynn’s effort to address pedestrian safety and improve traffic-calming infrastructure.
“It is critical that we look to scale up the city’s Safety Surge speed hump program and also include raised infrastructure, like speed humps and raised crosswalks, on our main streets and commercial roads, high traffic corridors, and bus routes. That is where the majority of the vehicles and pedestrians are located, so we naturally need to look to prevent serious and fatal crashes and force speeding cars to drive slower in these areas as well,” said Councilor Flynn. “Pedestrian safety is one of the most critical issues we face in the City of Boston, and speeding cars have been a public health emergency for some time,”
For more information, please contact Councilor Flynn’s office at 617-635-3203 and [email protected].
Maureen Dahill is the editor of Caught in Southie and a lifelong resident of South Boston sometimes mistaken for a yuppie. Co-host of Caught Up, storyteller, lover of red wine and binge watching TV series. Mrs. Peter G. Follow her @MaureenCaught.
I support Flynn’s Plan. The reason it has come to this is because people have become so Self Absorbed, using their phones while driving and easily distracted by anything thus taking their focus off the road. The people need to be told ” Its not all about YOU!”
This is great. Kudos to Flynn.
It’s a family thing, the Flynns stick up for the little guys. I’d like to see raised crosswalks on L Street!