Road Safety Audit

ROAD SAFETY AUDIT Rutherford Avenue City of Boston September 30, 2019 Prepared For: MassDOT Prepared By: BETA Group, Inc. Road Safety Audit—Rutherford Avenue—Charlestown, MA Prepared by BETA Group, Inc. FINAL Table of Contents Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 RSA Process ................................................................................................................................. 1 Project Description ..................................................................................................................... 3 Audit Observations and Potential Safety Enhancements...................................................... 15 Summary of Road Safety Audit ............................................................................................... 36 List of Appendices Appendix A. RSA Meeting Agenda Appendix B. RSA Audit Team Contact List Appendix C. Detailed Crash Data List of Figures Figure 1: Locus Map .................................................................................................................................. 4 Figure 2: Location Detail –Rutherford Avenue at Chelsea Street ............................................................. 5 Figure 3: Location Detail –Rutherford Avenue at Tobin Bridge Ramps ................................................... 7 Figure 4: Location Detail –Rutherford Avenue at Austin Street ............................................................... 9 Figure 5: Location Detail –Cambridge Street at I-93 Northbound Off-Ramp ......................................... 11 Figure 6: Location Detail –Sullivan Square ............................................................................................. 12 List of Tables Table 1: Participating Audit Team Members ............................................................................................. 2 Table 2: Estimated Time Frame and Costs Breakdown ........................................................................... 36 Table 3: Potential Safety Enhancement Summary – All Locations ......................................................... 37 Table 4: Potential Safety Enhancement Summary – Rutherford Avenue/North Washington Street at Chelsea Street/I-93 Southbound On-Ramp ..................................................................................... 40 Table 5: Potential Safety Enhancement Summary – Rutherford Avenue at Tobin Bridge (Route 1) Ramps ....................................................................................................................................... 42 Table 6: Potential Safety Enhancement Summary – Rutherford Avenue at Austin Street/Gilmore Bridge44 Table 7: Potential Safety Enhancement Summary – Cambridge Street at I-93 Northhbound Off- Ramp/Sullivan Square Station Exit and Cambridge Street at Spice Street ..................................... 46 Table 8: Potential Safety Enhancement Summary – Sullivan Square ..................................................... 47 Road Safety Audit—Rutherford Avenue—Charlestown, MA Prepared by BETA Group, Inc. FINAL Background The Federal Highway Administration defines a Road Safety Audit (RSA) as the formal safety examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent, multidisciplinary team. The purpose of an RSA is to identify potential safety issues and possible opportunities for safety improvements considering all roadway users. A Road Safety Audit was scheduled for High Crash Locations along Rutherford Avenue from City Square (Chelsea Street) to Sullivan Square, as well as the intersection of Cambridge Street at the I-93 Northbound Off-ramp and Spice Street, because the City of Boston and MassDOT have initiated a project to reconstruct Rutherford Avenue from City Square to Sullivan Square (MassDOT File No. 606226). The RSA is intended to identify potential short and long term safety improvements that can be made at each intersection and along the corridor, which can then be implemented through general maintenance for short term low cost improvements or incorporated into the future project to the greatest extent practicable. RSA Process A Road Safety Audit for High Crash Locations along Rutherford Avenue in the Charlestown neighborhood in the City of Boston was held on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 at the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown, MA. As indicated in Table 1, the audit team consisted of representatives from State, Regional and Local agencies and included a cross-section of engineering, planning, advocacy and emergency response expertise. The agenda for the RSA meeting is provided in Appendix A of this report, and contact information for participating audit team members is included in Appendix B. Page 1 Road Safety Audit—Rutherford Avenue—Charlestown, MA Prepared by BETA Group, Inc. FINAL Table 1: Participating Audit Team Members Audit Team Member Agency/Affiliation Ana Fill MassDOT Traffic Safety Michelle Deng MassDOT Traffic Safety Sarah Bakhtiari MassDOT Traffic Safety Hameed Pervez MassDOT District 6 Geraldine Vatan MassDOT District 6 Courtney Worhunsky MassDOT District 6 Thomas Brennan MassDOT District 6 Chris Sarno MassDOT District 6 Zach Veaner MassDOT District 6 Christopher Cameron MassDOT District 6 Alwin Ramirez MassDOT Bridge Project Management Sean Mills MBTA Karen Burns MBTA David Burke Massachusetts State Police Chris Comeaux Boston Transportation Department Bill Conroy Boston Transportation Department Quinlan Locke Boston Mayor’s Office Kevin Jordan Boston Fire Department Robert T. Luongo Boston Police Department David Loutzenheiser MAPC Bill Kuttner CTPS Ambar Johnson LivableStreets Alliance Thomas Nally A Better City Becca Wolfson Boston Cyclists Union Wendy Landman Walk Boston Erik Maki Tetra Tech Greg Lucas BETA Group, Inc. Justin Curewitz BETA Group, Inc. Amy Allen BETA Group, Inc. Background material including crash history, as well as the Safety Prompt List, were provided to audit team members prior to the RSA. These materials were reviewed during the RSA meeting, then audit participants were asked to discuss safety issues at the high crash locations along Rutherford Avenue and Cambridge Street. Audit participants then conducted a site visit as a group, at which time they offered observations on safety issues and concerns. Finally, audit participants were asked to consider improvements, considering both short- and long-term improvements for each issue. Page 2 Road Safety Audit—Rutherford Avenue—Charlestown, MA Prepared by BETA Group, Inc. FINAL Project Description Rutherford Avenue/New Rutherford Avenue, shown in in Figure 1, is an Urban Principal Arterial under City of Boston jurisdiction. Rutherford Avenue is designated as Route 99 within the study area. Rutherford Avenue follows a general north-south alignment, and is a critical connection between Boston, Charlestown, Everett and points north. The southern end of Rutherford Avenue connects to Boston via the North Washington Bridge, which carries North Washington Street and connects with Causeway Street and Commercial Street in Boston’s North End. The northern end of the project is Sullivan Square, a large rotary providing connection to local arterials serving Charlestown and Somerville, as well as the MBTA Sullivan Square Orange Line station. Route 99 follows Alford Street north from Sullivan Square, crossing the Mystic River into Everett and providing connection to the Encore Boston Harbor casino. Descriptions are provided herein for each of the High Crash Locations included in the RSA. To avoid confusion, the corridor is consistently referred to as Rutherford Avenue within the report, although portions of it are formally named New Rutherford Avenue. Rutherford Avenue/North Washington Street at Chelsea Street/I-93 Southbound On-Ramp Rutherford Avenue, North Washington Street, Chelsea Street, and the I-93 Southbound On-Ramp form a 4-legged intersection under traffic signal control, shown in Figure 2. The North Washington Street northbound approach provides three through lanes and a channelized right-turn lane. The Rutherford Avenue southbound approach provides an exclusive left-turn lane, three through lanes, and a channelized right-turn lane. The Chelsea Street westbound approach provides an exclusive left-turn lane, a shared left- through lane, and an exclusive right-turn lane. The I-93 SB On-Ramp is one way departing the intersection, with an island separating the channelized right turn from Rutherford Avenue from the shared departure lane from Chelsea Street. The North Washington Street, Rutherford Avenue and Chelsea Street legs are all median divided at the intersection. Triangular channelizing islands are present on the southwest and northeast corners of the intersection. City Square Park is located on the northwest corner of the intersection, and Paul Revere Park is on the southeast corner. Sidewalks are provided along both sides of Rutherford Avenue, North Washington Street, and Chelsea Street. Crosswalks are provided across the Chelsea Street and North Washington legs of the intersection, and across the I-95 Southbound On-Ramp, although the crosswalk across the channelized right turn lane from Rutherford Avenue onto the I-93 ramp is very faded and barely visible. Pedestrian cut-throughs are provided on the triangular channelizing islands on the southwest and northeast corners, and through the median island dividing the North Washington Street leg of the intersection. The median island on

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