BOSTON (WHDH) - Dangerous and scary. That’s how parents and pedestrians describe a traffic intersection near Boston’s North End. 7 Investigates staked it out and found a chaotic crossing. Caroline Goggin has the story.
A jogger swerves when a car rolls toward him. Dozens of kids are forced into the street, weaving around a tanker truck, and a woman with a stroller ducks around a school bus.
They’re all trying to get across the busy intersection down the street from TD Garden, near the base of the North Washington Street Bridge connecting the North End to Charlestown.
“It’s terrifying,” Morgan said.
Morgan and Katy cross several times a day, walking their kids to and from school.
“It’s definitely scary,” Katy said.
Traffic heading over the bridge is almost always backed up during rush hour, with vehicles blocking the crosswalk.
“Someone is going to get hurt,” Morgan said.
“It’s a free for all,” Katy said.
We repeatedly staked out the intersection, which is a popular alternate route for commuters trying to avoid traffic on Route 93. We found children, walkers, bikers, even tourists following the Freedom Trail, navigating around cars, buses, and cement mixers.
Pedestrians have to cross to an island and often get stuck there waiting for the walk light, which is usually blocked by traffic.
Sometimes we found Boston police officers trying to control the crosswalk.
A sign flashes a warning to drivers who could be fined for blocking the intersection. But it doesn’t seem to help. Vehicles in the different lanes try to merge onto the narrow bridge creating a bottleneck and lots of frustration.
“It’s a big mess, I can tell you. A big mess,” one driver said.
“It’s definitely a safety hazard,” another driver said.
7 Investigates asked transportation expert Peter Furth, a Northeastern professor of civil and environmental engineering, to check out the chaos.
“This is an intersection that is way over capacity. It’s terrible traffic management. It’s a big safety problem if a child is going by, the driver might not notice. I’m concerned. This is something that demands immediate action,” Professor Furth said.
Professor Furth shared his findings with the Boston Transportation Department, and the agency says it is reviewing his suggestions.
Katy and Morgan fear what could happen if things don’t change.
“It is a matter of time before something bad happens at this intersection, the amount of close calls I’ve seen,” Morgan said.
“Help! This is not safe for anyone,” Katy said.
The new replacement bridge that is being built will streamline traffic when it’s completed. But that will take two more years. People who have to use this intersection tell us they want the city to fix this dangerous situation now.
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