The intersection of Powder House Boulevard and Packard Avenue, marked only by flashing red traffic lights, has long been the cause of anxiety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians alike.
On Tuesday morning, a student was struck by a car while biking across the intersection and was hospitalized. On July 28, the Somerville Fire Department needed the Jaws of Life to extricate three victims from a two-vehicle crash at the same intersection. Their injuries were serious but not fatal, according to Wicked Local Somerville.
These two incidents and the near misses that occur on a daily basis clearly demonstrate that this is a dangerous intersection and that something must be done. Somerville residents have long complained of frequent traffic accidents and dangerous conditions for pedestrians at the intersection. A 60-year old transcript of a meeting of the Somerville Board of Aldermen shows that residents have complained about their children having to cross the minefield of traffic there since at least 1950. According to Somerville Ward 7 Alderman candidate Joan Whitney Puglia, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation refused to install a stoplight or pedestrian crossing signal, claiming that the volume of traffic the two streets receive does not justify the installation.
However, streets in this area see a considerable number of pedestrians and bicyclists, by virtue of their location next to the Tufts campus. So while Powder House and Packard and may not see enough vehicles each day to typically warrant a traffic signal, the frequency with which pedestrians and bicyclists cross it creates an extremely hectic and dangerous intersection.
Students have expressed anxiety about the crossing, both as drivers and as pedestrians, and history tells them that their anxiety is warranted.
The cost of installing a pedestrian crossing signal and converting the traffic lights from flashing reds to fully functioning traffic lights would be in the tens of thousands of dollars, but we believe that there is simply no question that the cost is justified. The bicyclist who was hit this week could have been killed. And like the many others that preceded it, Tuesday's accident could have been prevented by a traffic signal. The City of Somerville should install traffic lights at once for the safety of students and residents. Any further delay is both irresponsible and dangerous.
