Willow Ave Crash Statistics
Based on MassHighway/Registry of Motor Vehicle files
2002-2005
Total 22 crashes between Elm and Highland
9 at Elm/Willow/Beech
4 involved injuries (5 persons injured), 4 property damage only, 1 not reported
1 crash was with a pedestrian. All others were vehicles only.
All involved good weather
No specific movement or direction seemed to predominate - sometimes it was an angle with cars from two different directions, others involved two vehicles in the same direction.
4 at Willow/Summer
1 involved an injury. No pedestrian crashes listed.
1 took place in wet weather. 2 crashes involved eastbound (Willow) and northbound (Summer) vehicles at the signal.
9 at Willow/Highland
3 involved injuries (4 persons injured). 3 took place in wet weather, 2 involving snow.
1 northbound vehicle collided with a pedestrian, another with a parked car.
posted by Mark Chase @ 6:54 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
The Elm/Beech/Willow intersection should really have a traffic light -- there's a lot of traffic using Beech to get from Mass Ave to Davis Square and other points north. It's really the only way to go north from the Porter Square area.
If a light is installed, this organization should really make sure it's programmed correctly.
There should be a loop detector (a vehicle sensor) on Beech so traffic on Elm doesn't have to stop for no reason.
Traffic on Beech should have to wait a maximum of about 25-30 seconds for the light to change green. And then the green light on Beech should last as long as the detector is activated by passing vehicles, up to a maximum of about 20-25 seconds.
And there shouldn't be a 4-way pedestrian phase, since it wastes time for drivers and pedestrians alike, and causes people to lose respect for the light and break the rules.
There could be a pushbutton for pedestrians crossing Elm, but it should *only* be used to give a simultaneous green/walk light in the north-south direction (in case there are no cars to set off the detector on Beech when someone wants to cross Elm, or to make Beech's green light last as long as a walk phase takes).
People will respect a well-designed light that doesn't waste their time for no reason. If a poorly-designed light is installed that stops traffic for long periods when there's no cross-traffic, drivers start doing things like speeding to catch the end of the green light.
Here's a video that gives a great sense for what a cycle track looks like:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/04/streetfilms-nycs-first-legit-on-street-cycle-track/
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