Chicopee to identify and address risky street crossings following pedestrian deaths

CHICOPEE Following six fatal crashes that have taken place in two months, city officials are asking residents to notify them of any areas where a high volume of people cross the street that need to be made safer.

That means installing warning beacons at some crosswalks, repainting faded lines at others, adding speed tables to slow down drivers or completely redesigning intersections or crossing areas, said Mayor John L. Vieau.

The spate of crashes that include two pedestrians hit and killed by cars in three days on Chicopee Street and two other fatal pedestrian crashes on Springfield Street that took place within three weeks have prompted the citys Police Department, Engineering Department and mayor to look at ways to make streets safer.

Already police have stepped up patrols using overtime and a $65,000 state grant to purchase equipment such as new radar guns to reduce speeding and distracted driving. Police Chief Patrick Major and Vieau have even filmed a public service announcement asking drivers to slow down and pedestrians to be more careful.

But Vieau said it is time to take a good look at crossings with a lot of foot traffic, such as those near stores, restaurants and parks to make sure they are as safe as they can be.

The goal is to improve as many as we can and have people understand we have to work together, he said. I ask everyone to be very careful. I want everyone to be safe.

He urged people to contact his office, their city councilors and other officials when they see any type of problem. He is hoping to install crossing beacons at some and use a different type of crosswalk painting to make them more visible.

Already the city is working to place a flashing, yellow light at a crosswalk on Front Street which gets a lot of foot traffic. It is a location where traffic comes around a curve shortly before the crosswalk, limiting visibility.

Officials are also studying a crossing area near 950 Chicopee St. after neighbors submitted a petition to the mayors office because Gary Turcotte, 62, was struck and killed there Nov. 30. The city resident was walking when he was struck by a hit-and-run motorist who is believed to have been driving a gray Chevrolet Trailblazer.

The neighborhood wants a speed table and a stop sign, Vieau said. The Engineering Department is now reviewing those options and others to find the best way to improve safety there.

The city cannot put speed tables or flashing crosswalk lights in every location in the city, but it is possible to do so in areas that get a high volume of walkers.

Officials installed speed tables on Front Street as part of a pilot program this summer. More will not be put in until the Department of Public Works sees how the speed tables fare over a winter of plowing snow and it studies the impact they have on traffic on nearby and cut-through streets.

There are also other traffic calming methods that the citys engineering department can use in appropriate spots. We are going to work to find creative ways to slow down people at crossings, Vieau said.

During the City Council meeting on Tuesday, several members offered proposals to make improvements on different streets in the wards they represent.

Councilors Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello and Robert J. Zygarowski together submitted an order for the Department of Public Works to install pedestrian lights on Montcalm Street.

Councilor William Courchesne who represents the Willimansett area where the crashes took place that killed Turcotte, William Matteson, 68, and the bicyclist who hasnt been named submitted multiple orders requesting improvements.

One of his proposals is to install raised crosswalks in the area of Charbonneau Terrace, 646 Chicopee St. and Warregan Street. The crosswalks are slightly higher than the road surface and slow down drivers but are not as extreme as speed tables so they do not cause problems for emergency vehicles. Courchesne said neighboring Holyoke has a number of raised crosswalks in high-traffic areas.

These countermeasures have been around for decades, we just need to get a tire on this, he said.

He also requested a study of the area known as the Y where Meadow and Chicopee streets intersect and a review of the speed limit on Chicopee Street.

You have a street with two different speed limits on each side, he said. It is very confusing.

On one side for much of the length of the street it is posted for 35 mph but for traffic coming in the other direction it is 25 mph, Courchesne said.

Courchesne also requested several crosswalk signs be installed in different locations. When he first took office, he had signs installed at all walks in his ward, but some have been damaged and a few were missed.