Dear Neighbor,

A driver just lost their life on Washington Street in Wellesley. It is nearly ten times safer than Great Plain Avenue through downtown. And last week, our Select Board voted to keep GPA as dangerous as it is. 

This is not acceptable. And it is not too late to stop it.

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Just weeks ago, a driver lost their life in a fatal crash on Washington Street in Wellesley. It is a tragedy that should shake all of us, and it should be making our local leaders think twice about the road decisions they are making right now.

Instead, last week our Select Board voted 4-1 to spend $13.5 million rebuilding GPA almost exactly as it stands today. No significant safety improvements. The same dangerous design. Just newer pavement.

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Here is what makes that decision so alarming. Washington Street, the road where that fatal crash just occurred, is actually far safer than GPA. Look at the numbers from the last three years:

Washington Street near Glen Road (Wellesley)
• 17,570 vehicles per day (2-lanes)
• 10 crashes | 0 injuries
• Crash rate: 0.00057

Great Plain Avenue in Downtown (Needham)
• 11,267 vehicles per day (4-lanes)
• 61 crashes | 11 injuries
• Crash rate: 0.0054

Great Plain Avenue has nearly 9.5 times the crash rate of the road where someone just died, while carrying less traffic. And unlike Washington Street, people are getting hurt here: 11 injuries in three years, compared to zero.

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Even board members who voted yes had reservations. Kevin Keane wished the board "were doing more" for safety. Chair Heidi Frail stressed that pedestrian safety elements must be included. Good intentions are not enough when lives are at risk.

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The good news: this is not final. Here's where things stand:

• The project is still conceptual — no design funding approved yet
• The next chance to act is Town Meeting this October
• Design alone takes 18 months — construction is still years away

Every step is an opportunity for your voice to change the outcome.

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Here's what you can do right now:
• Contact the Select Board members and demand a safer design
• Attend the next public meeting on the Envision project
• Share this email with a neighbor who cares about road safety

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A nearby community already paid the price for a dangerous road, on one nearly ten times safer than ours. We cannot wait for that to happen here.

This decision is not final. But it will become final if we stay silent.

In solidarity,
Aidan Boni, Safe Streets Needham

 

 

 Safe Streets Needham's official comment on the vote:

Safe Streets Needham is disappointed by the Select Board’s decision to preserve the status quo of Great Plain Avenue, maintaining its four-lane configuration through Needham Center.  This decision squanders a great opportunity to consolidate the costs of critical drainage improvements with safety and public realm improvements of the corridor. In doing so, Needham risks falling behind our fellow Metro West towns, such as Newton and Lexington. The Select Board has decided to prioritize car capacity and car dependency over human health, and the experience of our downtown. Nevertheless, the Envision Needham Center project has been a great opportunity to engage with our community, talk to residents, and advocate for safe streets. While the design is not what we want, we will continue our advocacy of safe streets going forward, including this project, other projects the town already has planned, and ones we think it should pursue.  We hope you will join us in our advocacy and continue to engage so that we can make Needham as vibrant and safe as possible.