Latest Pedestrian Collision In Worcester Leaves Woman With Critical Injuries

WORCESTER, MA — Less than two weeks after city leaders declared a road safety crisis following a series of pedestrian injuries and one death, Worcester police are reporting that a driver hit and critically injured a pedestrian early Sunday morning.

The collision happened just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday along Greenwood Street, a main route between Route 20 and the Quinsigamond Village neighborhood where drivers often speed.

"Officers discovered an adult female Worcester resident with serious injuries. The pedestrian was taken to the hospital, where she is in critical condition. The driver remained at the scene," police said in a short news release.

The woman was at the least the fifth pedestrian to either die or suffer severe injuries since June. City Manager Eric Batista and Mayor Joseph Petty on Aug. 1 declared a road safety crisis in the days after a driver hit and seriously injured Ayuen Leet, 13, along Shrewsbury Street. Week's before Leet, Gianna Rose Simoncini, 13, died after a driver hit her along Belmont Street near UMass Chan.

The road safety declaration was meant to draw attention to a longstanding problem in Worcester, where reckless driving combined with poor pedestrian infrastructure and highway-like roads has left scores of pedestrians dead or injured over the years. Just this summer, the city is moving forward with a project to improve safety along Stafford Street, where a driver hit 5-year-old Candice Asare-Yeboah, leading to her eventual death.

Efforts to curb dangerous driving have also met deep political resistance in Worcester.

Before the Aug. 1 crisis declaration, District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj asked councilors to pass a similar declaration. But that item was delayed by At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman, who questioned the legality of the measure, and questioned why drivers were not included in the declaration along with unprotected road users like pedestrians and cyclists.

Worcester has even had into city council delays lowering the speed limit by 5 mph.

In December 2023, Worcester's Department of Transportation and Mobility (DTM) proposed lowering speed limits in Worcester from 30 to 25, a largely symbolic measure that would put Worcester speeds in line with cities like Boston and New York City. Along with the speed limit reduction, DTM wants to create 20 mph safety zones around sensitive buildings like daycare centers and hospitals.

The item was passed to At-Large Councilor Donna Colorio, who oversees the council's traffic and parking committee. Colorio held five hearings between January and March on the reduction, which attracted less than 30 attendees in total — although a majority of those attendees supported the idea.

Unsatisfied with turnout at the hearings, Colorio in May requested the city run a survey on the speed limit reduction idea. The survey closed at the end of July with results pending. Colorio still had not held a vote on the speed limit reduction as of this week in her committee. The committee is not scheduled to meet for the remainder of August, which means a vote on the proposal may have to wait until September or later.

And one of the city's biggest political battles in recent years has revolved around Mill Street, which was repainted in late 2023 to include the city's first parking-protected bike lanes. Opponents of the redesign have focused on a handful of crashes along the road in an attempt to undo the changes. Bergman and At-Large Councilor Khrystian King mounted an effort to return the road returned to its original configuration, or move the parking-protected bike lanes next to the street. The effort failed, but received votes of support from Colorio, District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson and District 3 Councilor George Russell.

According to city leaders, there have been 2,800 motor vehicle crashes in 2024 so far. Fifty-one have resulted in serious injuries or deaths, and 90 have involved pedestrians and cyclists.