A 312B Caterpillar small hydraulic excavator fell onto its side Friday morning at the intersection of Boston and College Ave., where intersection construction has been progressing throughout the year. The driver was sent to the hospital for arm and shoulder wounds. No one else was injured.
The excavator was driving onto the back of a flatbed trailer when it flipped around 11:30 a.m., taking out the traffic light on the northwest corner with its arm.
Construction workers at the scene said the flatbed may have been too small to hold it, and was most likely the cause of the accident. "This isn't the right trailer for this type of equipment," one construction worker said. The R. Zoppo Company is working on the intersection, which is overseen by the city of Medford.
Many students found their paths blocked as they walked to class or the gym in the early afternoon. Three fire engines arrived, along with an ambulance and Tufts Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
The intersection of Boston Ave. and College Ave. has been under construction since the beginning of the school year. Safety improvements to the intersection were prompted after two students sustained minor injuries last February when they were hit by a van passing through the intersection.
Construction work will include installing traffic lights and lane markers. Before the intersection can be restructured, however, the city of Medford and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) are working jointly to replace the water mains underneath the street.
That water main provides water to the entire campus. An 8-inch pipe has been replaced with a larger 12-inch pipe. Its replacement was not necessary but was done because the pipes will be out of reach once the street is repaved.
"The traffic speeds through despite the number of students crossing the street to get to classes or the gym," freshman Mary Smith said. "There are blind corners with cars parked on the side of the road, which can make it difficult to find a hole in traffic to cross the street."
The redesign of the intersection should take no more than six months, according to Paul Gere, director of Medford Public Works.
"The intersection is going to be state-of-the-art," Gere said. "There will be a whole new system of traffic lights, different crosswalks, and an Opticom system." Opticom systems allow approaching emergency vehicles to reconfigure the traffic lights so that they may pass through the intersection with greater ease.
