A plan has been unveiled to redesign a stretch of a major thoroughfare in Springfield, Massachusetts that has been the focus of calls for safety improvements.
In an effort to slow down cars traveling on State Street in the block that includes the Central Library, the city intends to narrow the street there to one lane in each direction and install just to the east of the library a raised crosswalk that will have a pedestrian-activated traffic signal.
The proposed changes, which are based on the results of a traffic study the city commissioned, will be constructed next spring, announced Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.
“It is going to cost about $650,000, but this was never about money,” Sarno said. “It’s about public safety and making sure it’s done the right way.”
The traffic study was already underway when library employee Gayle Ball died on November 10th after she was hit by a car as she was crossing the street to the parking lot. In 2014, a child was killed there.
Narrowing the street and putting in an elevated crosswalk will cause drivers to slow down to at least the posted speed limit of 30 mph, said DPW Director Chris Cignoli.
“People are speeding like crazy in the city of Springfield,” he said.
Before the construction begins next spring, Cignoli said temporary measures to slow down the traffic including barrels, cones, and barricades will be put in place.
“We want to make sure when we do it we make it as safe as possible for the pedestrians,” Cignoli said.
City Library Director Molly Fogarty said the library staff suffered a personal tragedy with Ball’s death and they are pleased with the proposed changes.
“There are 400,000 people who use that building in a given year, so we want to keep it safe for staff and the public,” Fogarty said.
Residents of Metro Center and pedestrian and bicycle safety advocates have been calling for years for the kind of safety improvements in front of the library that have now been announced, said City Councilor Jesse Lederman.
“This is what I believe is necessary to solve this problem,” he said. Lederman and fellow councilors in 2019 called for the Sarno administration to make the changes that are now planned.
“At the time, the administration was not willing to do it. Residents and City Councilors they kept up the effort,” Lederman said.
The council’s Maintenance and Development Committee has a meeting scheduled Monday to review the proposals.
Springfield has recorded a five-year high for traffic fatalities with 21 so far this year. After six deaths in November alone, police began a high-visibility traffic enforcement campaign.
Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said hundreds of citations have been issued.
“The number one complaint is speeding, distracted driving, and people going through red lights,” Clapprood said. She said people are “running around the city like a race track. The time of day doesn’t matter. The day of the week doesn’t matter.”
Since the crackdown began, the city has not recorded a fatal crash.
