Somerville Outlines Next Steps At Site Of Fatal Hit-And-Run

SOMERVILLE, MA — The city plans to build on safety measures implemented on Powder House Boulevard, where a woman was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver earlier this year.

Earlier safety measures and traffic improvements made include a pedestrian-activated Rapid Flashing Beacon at Hardan Road in front of the West Somerville Neighborhood School, sidewalk bump outs, improved crosswalk markings, new crosswalks, reflective mid-crosswalk signs, reflective strips, the flashing 4-way stop at Packard Ave. installed in collaboration with Tufts University, and the lowering of the citywide speed limit to 25 mph in 2016.

Allison Donovan, 40, was fatally struck at the intersection of Powder House Boulevard and Hardan Street in January. The road has been the focus of an ongoing infrastructure improvement project for the past two years.

The next steps in the city's Powder House Blvd. Traffic Safety Plan include a series of three speed tables near the West Somerville Neighborhood School, a conversion of the signalized intersection at Curtis St. to a 4-way stop, a large sidewalk bump out at North Street that will narrow the western pedestrian crossing from 70 to 30 feet and a pedestrian-activated HAWK signal in front of the school designed to slow and fully stop traffic with a series of yellow and red lights.

The plan is comprised of safety measures already scheduled for the current construction season, as well as some new improvements developed in response to community input.

The plan also updates existing plans for a "road diet" for the Boulevard, which will slow traffic by narrowing the vehicle travel lanes. To achieve this, single-lane bike lanes had been previously planned for Fall 2019 for the Boulevard to both improve cyclist safety as well to narrow the road.

In collaboration with the Somerville Bicycle Committee, discussions will be held from May through the summer to determine if the community prefers the existing plan or a two-lane, two-way bike path that could have additional safety benefits for both cyclists and pedestrians but would require the elimination of a significant amount of parking.

City staff will be set up at the West Somerville Neighborhood School for Office Hours to listen to plan feedback and answer questions at the times noted below. A date for a community meeting in May to update on plan progress and start community discussion on the bike lane options will be announced soon.

• Wednesday, April 10, 6-8 p.m., West Somerville Neighborhood School lobby

• Tuesday, April 23, 6-8 p.m., West Somerville Neighborhood School lobby

• Thursday, April 25, 6-8 p.m., West Somerville Neighborhood School lobby

The traffic plan is available at www.somervillema.gov/PHB as a document, and a voice-over video version will be available by April 4.