How Dangerous are Wayland's Intersections?

WAYLAND, MA - Motor vehicle fatalities were up across the country and in Massachusetts in 2015, according to a study by the National Safety Council.

The number of motor-vehicle deaths in the United States in 2015 totaled 38,300, up 8% from 2014.

The increase was not as dramatic in Massachusetts, which saw 354 traffic fatalities in 2015, a two percent increase from the 348 deaths in 2014 and a six percent increase from the 334 deaths in 2013.

Nationwide, the estimated annual mileage death rate is 1.22 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, an increase of 5% from the 2014 rate.

According to data from 2011-13, Wayland does not have one of the 200 most dangerous intersections in the state, but it does have a couple of intersections that qualify as Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) clusters.

“A highway safety improvement project is any strategy, activity or project on a public road that is consistent with the data-driven State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and corrects or improves a hazardous road location or feature or addresses a highway safety problem.”

The intersection of Old Connecticut Path and Boston Post Road (Route 20) at the border of Wayland and Weston is one of the HSIP intersections in town and saw 50 crashes from 2011-13; three of those resulted in injuries and the other 47 resulted in property damage only.

The other HSIP intersection in town is at Route 30 (Commonwealth Road) and Main Street where 31 crashes -- five with injuries and 26 with property damage only -- occurred from 2011-13.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation keeps information on the most dangerous intersections in the state, which you can find here.