To: Boston City Council

Petitioner: Caroline A Richardson

When people join a community, they willingly give up their freedom, agree to follow the rules of a community, in exchange for the community defending their rights and values. But that is not always the case. In the Dorchester community, people are risking their lives to get a cup of coffee in the morning, go to work, or go to school. This all takes place on the intersection of Dorchester Avenue, Roseclair Street, and Mt. Vernon Street.

While this intersection is home to businesses, residences, and is in the vicinity of multiple schools, and has crosswalks, there is a constant flow of cars going through at high speeds, and no traffic lights to actually make the cars stop. This location is endangering residents, who have the basic right to live a long, safe life. They can either wait for a car to stop, or they can walk down to the intersection of Dorchester Ave and Columbia Road, which is very inconvenient and can increase the amount of time it takes to get from place to place.

The U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention explains that “over 8,000 pedestrians were killed on our nation’s roads in crashes involving a motor vehicle in 2022,” (CDC). It is true that this is an issue that faces the whole country, but the way we solve it is with small steps, one at a time, one city at a time. This could include creating safeguards to prevent cars from going so quickly through heavily populated areas where there are no such things to keep people safe (like crossing guards or traffic lights).

Fortunately, the City of Boston is already aware of this issue. The article “Safety Surge” on the City of Boston website states that their list of which intersections to protect “will be prioritized based on safety history, demographics…if there are parks, schools, [or] community centers nearby…” (City of Boston). Seeing the busy nature of this intersection, this particular area should be placed high on this list, seeing as there are many community gathering places, restaurants and schools nearby.

In fact, this danger of cars has already impacted and injured students. I spoke with an anonymous student who witnessed an event where a fellow classmate was injured by a car in this intersection. They told me that this student had not been able to attend school for more than a month since the accident, and agreed that there was a good chance that this could happen again. Additionally, in an interview with an anonymous employee at the Sugar Bowl, which is right on the corner of the intersection, I learned that thousands of cars pass through every day, more and more since the Covid-19 pandemic. In recent years, a car was even hit so badly it was flipped over. The interviewee recommended that police officers be posted to this intersection, so people are more pressured into driving safer. When asked if they would sign a petition asking the city council to further address this issue, they said yes.

Overall, the city of Boston is responsible to protect these innocent people, who have done no wrong, who follow the laws of the city, who don’t deserve to die in a brutal car accident. We, the undersigned, ask that the city council prioritize addressing this problem by adding a traffic light or a crossing guard within a reasonable amount of time. These measures would help keep the people of Dorchester safe and happy.

Bibliography:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, October 29). Pedestrian safety. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/pedestrian-bike-safety/about/p...

“Safety Surge.” Boston.Gov, City of Boston Website, 10 Oct. 2024, www.boston.gov/departments/transportation/safety-surge.