George at Winthrop Intersection Sparks Safety Concerns

Frustrated over how dangerous the intersection has become, residents near George Street at Winthrop Street went to City Hall Tuesday to ask the City Council to help them get the crosswalk there repainted and have further safety measures implemented.

“That intersection on George and Winthrop is a death trap, and I mean that literally,” Medford resident Julian Orbanes told the council.

Concern around the intersection has been elevated after a teenager was hit by a car while cross the street there on Oct. 17 and had to be treated at the hospital with minor injuries.

Drivers seem to treat the street as an extension of the highway, Orbanes said, barrelling long at particularly high speeds when they are travelling north and are carried by the momentum of the hill leading to Tufts University.

Councilor Paul Camuso brought resolutions forward Tuesday calling for the crosswalk to be repainted and have a pedesrian cross sign installed there.

“I don’t want to hear we have to wait until next year or any other excuse,” Camuso said.

Orbanes and other residents who spoke asked for more to be done to improve safety at the intersection, such as speed bumps or an elevated sidewalk.

“There has to be other interventions and traffic measures taken,” said resident Vicki Halal.

The area is well populated with children, adding to safety concerns, residents said.

“When you’re walking with your 5 year-old child to catch the bus you not only have to hold her hand, you have to keep her away from the street," said Ann Frenning, who lives on Winthrop Street.

The area has been a safety concern for years and should be examined, councilor Fred Dello Russo said.

“That whole area has been an accident waiting to happen for years,” he said. “There seems to be a mindlessness there to the way people come down that hill.”

Councilor Michael Marks agreed the crosswalk should painted immediately, but he also called for the city administration to consider purchasing thermo-plastic crosswalks, which would be more expensive but far more durable than paint.

“To me it makes more sense,” he said.