Work Begins On Plans To Fix 'Deadly' Route 114 Peabody Stretch

PEABODY, MA — When dozens of local officials and anguished family members of those killed or injured on Route 114 in Peabody over the past two decades gathered for a public meeting in December there was a demand to do something at long last about the perilous stretch of road before more lives are lost.

The hope was that the emotional meeting would be the first step toward meaningful improvements.

This week, one more small step was taken down that hopeful path as the state Department of Transportation laid out a schedule for an in-depth Road Safety Audit and presentation of its findings over the next few months.

State Department of Transportation District 4 Highway Director Paul Stedman, who called the December forum "an important beginning" for revamping the road, sent a letter to North Shore state officials on Wednesday outlining the timeline for the RSA and how it will be used to determine next steps.

In his letter, Stedman said recently collected crash data will be used in completing the RSA, which will then be presented at a Road Safety Meeting "to review and discuss existing safety issues and allow team members to share personal knowledge and experience on the corridor."

Stedman said the RSA will culminate with the development of a detailed report documenting the review process and "identifying potential enhancements and safety measures."

"Proud to share this update and looking forward to positive change on this roadway," State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) posted along with the Mass DOT roadmap on her social media account on Thursday. "(Thank you) to residents, local officials and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for making safety a priority."

Rachel Dellacroce, whose 18-year-old son, Nicholas, was struck and killed while on his motorcycle by a driver trying to cross all five lanes of Route 114 seven months ago, told those at the December meeting there had been 16 fatal accidents, 1,627 non-fatal accidents and 3,260 property damage accidents totaling more than 5,400 total accidents on the Peabody stretch of the roadway in the previous 19 years.

"I lost my son because of the lack of safety on this road," she said that night. "If there were a median strip instead of the hazardous suicide (middle turning) lane, I'd still have two children.

"And I'm going to keep saying that probably until the day I'm gone."

Lovely, State Rep. Sally Kerans (D-Danvers) and State Rep. Thomas Walsh (D-Peabody) followed up the meeting by sending Stedman a letter requesting details on the next steps in making roadway improvements.

Stedman said in December that there may be some mitigating measures that could be implemented in the short term, but allowed that a reconstruction of the road will take many years.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)