Worcester Declares Road Safety Crisis After Pedestrians Killed, Hurt

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester city leaders Thursday declared that there's a road safety and traffic violence crisis after a series of pedestrian collisions in recent weeks that have either killed or seriously injured local residents.

The move from City Manager Eric Batista and Mayor Joseph Petty follows a recent city council meeting where District 5 Council Etel Haxhiaj attempted to pass a measure declaring a public health crisis over pedestrian collisions. That item was delayed by At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman — just a few hours after a 54-year-old man was gravely injured by a pickup truck driver near Park Avenue and Pleasant Street.

Apart from the Park Avenue incident, Ayuen Leet, 13, was hit and injured along Shrewsbury Street Monday. She remained in a coma as of Thursday. Gianna Rose Simoncini, 13, died June 27 crossing a section of Belmont Street near UMass Chan that features few crosswalks and speeding drivers. A driver hit and injured a toddler along Lincoln Street just days before Simonici's death. And Worcester police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who nearly killed a scooter rider along June Street two weeks ago.

Thursday's crisis declaration will come with several action items. The city's Department of Transportation and Mobility will complete safety assessments of Shrewsbury and Belmont streets — where two of the most serious collisions have occurred recently — within 60 days.

Batista and Petty also said the city will begin a public awareness campaign about a potential reduction in the citywide speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour, and the creation of new 20 mph safety zones around sensitive locations, like daycare centers and hospitals. The city council could vote on making those changes at the Aug. 27 meeting, but the issue still has to be voted out of the council's Traffic and Parking Committee. The chair of that committee, At-Large Councilor Donna Colorio, held a series of hearings on the speed limit change earlier this year, but delayed a vote on the issue so the city could conduct an online survey. The city had not as of Thursday released the results.

“We need action now, beginning with the Worcester City Council’s unanimous vote on these two policies without delay,” Haxhiaj said Thursday. She also said she still intends to ask the council to vote on a resolution recognizing pedestrian injuries and deaths as a public health emergency.

The city will also fast-track the Vision Zero program, which aims to reduce traffic deaths to zero. A Vision Zero action plan was set to be released later in the fall, but the city will begin releasing findings from the study in the coming weeks.

"The intent of this declaration is to draw attention to the serious and worsening problem of traffic violence and rally the community behind actions to address it," the declaration from Petty and Batista said. "Making streets safer and more accommodating for all users requires more than government actions alone. As a community, we need to work together to ensure our collective safety and well-being. We urge everyone to respect the rules of the road, slow down, watch for other road users, and exercise patience and restraint."