285 Summer Street

On December 4th, 2015, a woman was hit and seriously injured while crossing a dark portion of Summer Street near Papagayo Restaurant away from a crosswalk. The Vision Zero Task Force visited the crash location on December 18th to make recommendations for any short and long term changes to the area that could improve safety.

Date of Crash
12/4/2015, 8:25PM 

Date of Site Visit 
12/18/2015

Location 
Near 280-205 Summer Street, Boston

News coverage 
UniversalHub - "Pedestrian struck on Summer Street in South Boston; suffers head injuries"
Boston Herald - "Pedestrian hit by car in Southie in serious condition"

Present at Site Visit
Chief of Streets
BTD Commissioner
PWD Commissioner
Public Works Department - Operations
Boston Transportation Department - Planning 
Boston Police Department 
Boston Public Health Commission  
WalkBoston  

Photos from Site Visit 
No photos taken.      

Recommendations 

Short term:

  • Add more lighting. This was a very dark section of the street.
  • Add a traffic speed board. Even with BPD cruiser pulled over with emergency lights on, vehicles were traveling fast through the area during site visit.
  • Add painted bike lanes on each side of the road to narrow this wide stretch of road.

Longer term:

  • Long term plans for Summer Street include full reconstruction as part of Crossroads Initiative. (Note: currently unfunded).
  • Raise the street to fix the cross slope of the sidewalks.
  • Add 2-way cycletrack on side of street opposite the current sloped sidewalks. 
  • Narrow lanes. 
  • Consider additional crosswalk.

Improvements Completed 
PWD added additional light post that weekend.

February 2016: speed board sign has been added.

As of 6/12/16, no additional changes have been made. Please send us photos/comments when you see changes so this page remains accurate.