Somerville Releases Draft Plan For Safer Roadways

SOMERVILLE, MA — The city released its five-year draft plan to work toward its Vision Zero goal, which aims to eliminate traffic crashes that result in death and severe injuries. The draft was written by a community task force working with city staff and regional advocacy organizations.

Somerville is one of about 40 cities nationwide participating in the Vision Zero movement.

"Since the late 1940s, American streets have generally been designed to move motor vehicles as fast as possible, with little regard for public health and safety," Mayor Joseph Curtatone said in a statement. "Our society became convinced that crashes with terrible consequences were inevitable, and today roughly 40,000 Americans are killed on our roads every year. The Vision Zero approach turns that logic upside-down. Communities like Somerville commit themselves to systematically reducing the operating speeds of motor vehicles because we believe that a human life is more important than a few moments of delay for people driving."

Since it was adopted in 2017, the Vision Zero strategy has guided citywide safety initiatives such as lower citywide speed limits, crosswalk and lighting improvements, intersection redesign and the introduction of separated bike lanes.

The latest plan comes following a year that saw three pedestrians killed in Somerville. Ward 5 City Councilor and Chair of the City Council's Traffic and Parking Committee Mark Niedergang called Vision Zero "truly a matter of life and death."

"I believe we can win the battle to make our streets safe, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists, but for motorists as well, and when we do, there will be many additional environmental, health and economic benefits," Niedergang said in a statement.

The latest plan outlines high-crash areas and communities of concern, as well as where the two intersect. A key priority of the plan is to enact safety improvements that support people of color, low-income households, people with limited English proficiency and persons with disabilities or mobility impairments.

In the mayor's inaugural speech Jan. 6, he announced that he is calling for an "unprecedented investment" in transportation staff and resources to help achieve both the community's Vision Zero goals for safer streets and its carbon neutrality goals set forth in the Climate Forward Plan.

Somerville will hold the following open houses to discuss the draft:

• Open House #1 East Somerville Community School, Cafeteria 50 Cross St, Somerville; Tuesday, January 21, 6-8 p.m.
• Open House #2 Somerville Community Baptist Church 31 College Ave., Somerville; Thursday, January 30, 6-8 p.m.
• Open House #3 Somerville Public Library, Auditorium 79 Highland Ave, Somerville; Wednesday, February 5, 6-8 p.m.