Slowing down the ‘stroads’ of Boston
By 
Boston’s version of Vision Zero, an idea that originated in Sweden more than two decades ago, sets as its target zero fatalities or serious injuries by 2030 among people who walk, bicycle, or drive.
A recent policy report from the Vision Zero Coalition indicates the number of fatalities has been declining in Boston, falling from 21 in 2016 to 10 in 2018, with the number of pedestrian fatalities dropping from 14 to 7 over that time period. But the number of crashes that required response by emergency medical service teams actually increased slightly, rising from 4,355 in 2016 to 4,367 in 2018.
“Generally speaking the trend lines are better, or at least they’re not any worse, than when the program was adopted,” said Matthew Lawlor, who is active in WalkUP Roslindale. “We’re making progress, but those of us who are advocates think progress isn’t coming fast enough.”
Lawlor, who joined neighborhood transportation advocate Vivian Ortiz and host Josh Fairchild of TransitMatters on the Codcast, says the key to lowering the number of fatalities is slowing traffic down.
Boston has lowered its speed limit to 25 miles per hour, and is now pursuing another drop to 20 miles per hour. But Lawlor says more can be done, particularly with “stroads,” a term used to characterize a multi-laned thoroughfare that is a cross between a road and a street. A road is designed for vehicles to get from point A to point B quickly (think highway), with relatively few entrance and exit points. A street is full of entrance and exit points; it’s more about slowly browsing, looking for a store, a business, or a home. When the two are combined, the result is a stroad that makes drivers think they are on a road, capable of higher speeds, when they are actually on a street sharing space with pedestrians and bicyclists.
Part of the solution, according to Lawlor, is better roadway design. He also said enforcement of speed limits is crucial. Lawlor said he is amazed that Boston doesn’t have camera-based school zone enforcement, while Ortiz said many school zones in the city lack speed limit signs.
Ortiz said residents of her neighborhood in Mattapan don’t want restrictions on driving. “I live in a neighborhood where folks are very proud of having their cars,” she said, noting most of the residents have given up on the T and mount a lot of resistance to sharing the road with bicycles.
“I don’t have a lot of cheerleaders in my camp when it comes to my neighbors because they’ve transitioned to completely being folks that are in cars. I find myself being alone in that community, and it’s difficult.”
Ortiz said a lot of transportation education is needed in many of Boston’s neighborhoods, but she said the current approach of the MBTA and other agencies is often counterproductive. Information provided at public meetings is not in multiple languages. The meetings are held at inconvenient times and at inaccessible locations.
“We can fill a room, but are we filling the room with the people that need to be asked and the ones that are actually using the system?” she asked.
Ortiz also said there is strong resistance to bike lanes and public transit, which tend to be associated with restrictions on driving or gentrification. “There’s a sense of distrust that happens quite often,” she said.
“They see that bike lanes mean gentrification,” she said. “They don’t see it as something – maybe my grandchild will be able to ride safely, maybe I might feel more comfortable walking on the sidewalk.”
BEACON HILL
The Massachusetts Medical Society will lobby against existing non-medical exemptions to the state’s vaccine requirements for school children. (Eagle-Tribune)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Worcester School Committee member Dante Camparetto says he won’t seek reelection because the panel is “morally corrupt” and representing “a very racist community.” The school committee recently renewed the contract of Superintendent Maureen Binienda by a 5-2 vote, with Camparetto one of the no votes. (Worcester Magazine)
Hundreds marched from Dorchester to City Hall for the 23rd Mother’s Day March for Peace. (Boston Globe) Among the marchers was Ronald Odom, who spoke earlier this month about the loss of his son to gun violence 12 years ago. (CommonWealth)
A Globe editorial criticizes the Boston Police Department’s record on advancing women to top posts.
The relatively new organizers of the Black Picnic, a summer tradition for African American families in Salem since the 1880s, have clashed with the Parks and Recreation Commission and questioned why that festival needs a memorandum of understanding while others do not. (Salem News)
New Bedford’s City Council last week voted to fund 17 Community Preservation Act projects totaling $1.5 million, which includes $75,000 for the Sgt. Sean Gannon Memorial Playground at Campbell Elementary and $350,000 for the Capitol Theater restoration. (Standard-Times)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Legislation effectively barring pregnant women from abortion is on the move or already on the books in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, and Kentucky, and the issue could be headed for a showdown before the US Supreme Court as lower-court judges have held up the laws. (Associated Press)
The federal bill to secure the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe a reservation has the votes to pass the House when it is taken up this week, including a core of Republicans, according to Congressman Bill Keating. (WBUR)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a tough balancing act as she urges her party to stay focused on bread-and-butter issues she thinks will win with voters, but other leading Democrats are increasingly talking up impeachment. (Boston Globe)
Fay Vincent, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, criticizes Red Sox players for not attending the event at the White House with President Trump. (Washington Post) Callie Crossley isn’t happy that Tiger Woods went to receive honors at the White House while non-white athletes in other sports have stayed away even after winning championships. (WGBH)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The Friday-afternoon closure of National Fish & Seafood left 150 people out of work and surprised Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, who contacted Gov. Charlie Baker about the situation. (Gloucester Daily Times)
Locals at Westport’s annual town meeting are saying no to craft cannabis co-ops, and have approved a bylaw that will fine those who steal beach rocks and vegetation from town beaches, as well as an updating the town’s solar bylaw. (Herald News)
The union representing workers at Macy’s votes to authorize a strike. (MassLive)
EDUCATION
A group of five Boston Public Schools in the Grove Hall area is proposing to form an “innovation zone,” which would connect the schools and give them leeway from the teachers contract and more flexibility over curriculum and budgeting.
The Senate’s proposed freeze on UMass tuitions is unleashing a wider debate about higher education costs. (Boston Globe)
Harvard is bouncing Ronald Sullivan and Stephanie Robinson as faculty deans of Winthrop House. Sullivan’s role overseeing an undergraduate residential house became the focus of controversy when some students protested that it was not compatible with his work as part of the defense team for Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, allegations against whom sparked the #MeToo movement. (The Harvard Crimson)
John Van Ness, a 16-year-old, wants to do away with Gloucester High School’s ban on hats, but principal James Cook said there are good reasons for the restriction because hats can hide a person’s identity from security cameras and because hat removal signals a learning environment. (Gloucester Daily Times)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Former hospital executive Paul Levy explains why it’s often so difficult to follow your doctor when he or she changes practices. (CommonWealth)
ARTS/CULTURE
We Live in Cairo, a musical by two brothers who grew up in Boylston, inspired by an image from the Arab Spring, will premiere at the American Repertory Theater this month. (WBUR)
TRANSPORTATION
Maria Belen Power of GreenRoots and Chris Dempsey of Transportation for Massachusetts say the state’s transportation policies are failing communities of color. (CommonWealth)
John Donohue of the Arbella Insurance Group urges the Legislature to pass a ban on hand-held use of cell phones while driving. (CommonWealth)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
US Reps. Seth Moulton and John Rutherford and New England Aquarium president and CEO Vikki Spruill say it’s not too late to rescue the North Atlantic right whale. (CommonWealth)
CASINOS
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says regulators should hold off for now on granting the Wynn casino in Everett a license to serve liquor past the 2 a.m. statewide closing time. (Boston Herald) The New York Times Travel section featured a story with a bullish assessment of the casino’s prospects despite struggles among other East Coast casinos. That bullishness extended, however, to incorrectly declaring that Encore Boston Harbor already had a 4 a.m. liquor license.
A study will look at the impact of the Plainridge Park slots parlor on senior citizens in the area. (Boston Globe)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
A new analysis finds no connection between undocumented immigrants and crime. (New York Times)
A West Yarmouth man named James Louis Jordan, who had a belligerent reputation, allegedly attacked a group of hikers along the Appalachian Trail in western Virginia with a machete, killing one. (Washington Post)
A motorcyclist hit a police officer who was directing traffic around another motorcycle crash scene in Lowell and then fled. (Lowell Sun)
Police say Ismael Avelino of Brockton allegedly stabbed a co-worker at Alpha Chemical and then just returned to the job. He is being charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. (Brockton Enterprise)
Sherry Penney, the former chancellor of UMass Boston who also served as interim president of the UMass system, and her husband James Livingston were found dead in their Florida home of apparent accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. (Boston Globe)