Which Intersection is the Most Dangerous in Bedford?

Last month, Bedford Town Councilors held a public hearing to consider an ordinance that would prohibit left-hand turns from Olde Bedford Way onto Route 101.

After significant discussion, the matter was ultimately tabled to allow time for the collection of more data and the exploration of alternate solutions.

Many residents who spoke out against the proposal cited the reality that the intersection in question had yet to see a significant accident. That piqued our curiosity at Bedford Patch, so we reached out to Bedford Police Chief John Bryfonski, who ran an analysis on accidents occurring on intersections on Bedford's most well-traveled roads – from Jan. 1, 2012 through July 19, 2013 – and supplied us with that data.

As some may have expected, two of the town's busiest – at Routes 101 and 114 and at South River Road and Kilton Road – proved the most dangerous, with 28 and 22 reported accidents, respectively.

Perhaps surprising to some, however, is the fact that there were roughly half as many crashes at the junction of Route 101 and Wallace Road, an area many Bedford residents consider one of the most dangerous in town.

The following is a complete list of reported accidents on Route 101, Route 114, South River Road. New Boston Road and other well-traveled roadways during the aforementioned time frame:

Route 101 Intersecting With:

• Route 114:     28
• Meetinghouse: 15
• Wallace:         13
• Nashua:         08
• Bell Hill:         05
• Constitution:   05
• Pinecrest:       05
• Bedford CTR:  04
• Chestnut:       04
• Liberty Hill:     04
• Boynton:        03
• Colonial:         03
• Covenant:       03
• Hardy:           03
• Jenkins:         03
• Joppa Hill:      03
• Old Bedford:   03-[Old Bedford Way: 2]
• ALL                  134*

Route 114 Intersecting With:

• Route 101:     28
• New Boston:   17
• Donald St:      10
• White Ave:     05
• Donald St Ext:04
• ALL                  65* 

South River Rd Intersecting With:

• Kilton:            22
• Meetinghouse:11
• Eastman Ave:  07
• Back River:     06
• Hawthorne:     04
• Colby Ct:        03
• East Point:      03
• Ray Wiezorek: 03
• ALL                  64*

 New Boston Rd Intersecting With:

• Route 114:     17
• McAllister:      04
• Chesterfield:   03
• Lindahl:          03
• ALL                  37*

Meetinghouse Rd Intersecting With:

Route 101:     15

South River:    11

Liberty Hill:     03

ALL                  31*

Wallace Rd Intersecting With:

Route 101:     13

No. Amherst:  05

ALL                  27*

Liberty Hill Intersecting With:

• County Rd:     10
• Rt 101:          04
• Meetinghouse:03
• ALL                  23*

Kilton Rd Intersecting With:

• South River:    22 [All]

County Rd Intersecting With:

• Liberty Hill      10
• ALL                  15*

McAllister Intersecting With:

• New Boston:   04
• Ministerial Rd: 03
• ALL                  07

 Back River Intersecting With:

• South River:    06
• ALL                  10*

Palomino Intersecting With:

• South River:    03
• ALL                  05*