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Once again, a building in Roslindale Square unable to get out of the way of a car
By adamg on Sun, 03/26/2023 - 12:26pm
This morning, John snapped the latest example of a driver plowing into a building in Roslindale Square, on South Street just past the curve from Washington Street, although the damage was nowhere near as severe as the last time somebody did that.
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Ah spring, when Massholes
Ah spring, when Massholes frolic in the lanes.
The building isn’t even
The building isn’t even wearing a helmet
I hear they found a pair of headphones
in the building.
Or a seat belt
Or a seat belt
I have lived all over the
I have lived all over the country and never have I seen so much of this than the Boston area. What’s the deal? Why are people such slobs?
National problem
This is a national problem. At least we talk about it and recognize it as a problem when it happens here, as it goes unremarked upon most everywhere else.
Wasn't this the curve where people blocked a road diet?
Wasn't there a road diet or set of safety improvements proposed here that a handful of NIMBYs blocked? Or was that elsewhere in Roslindale?
Maybe you're thinking of Centre Street in Westie?
There is a proposal to turn Poplar Street into a pedestrian-only stretch, which might mean reconfiguring how traffic gets around Adams Park, but I don't recall any Westie-style us-against-the-world campaigns against it (for that matter, I don't even know where that idea stands, hmm, you'd think a reporter might want to look into that).
Still campaigning
Some WR guy showed up at the Jim & Margery WGBH live library broadcast last week claiming he speaks for the whole neighborhood in opposing the Centre St. changes and asking the guest what she was going to do about it (the answer was “not my department.“) And I saw a letter to The Bulletin from somebody else, also claiming to represent everybody, opposing the changes. So I guess it’s still an undecided issue. Neither of these people have ever asked me, or as far as I know ever polled the people who use the street as to what they think. I won’t claim to speak for everybody, but I hate driving, riding a bike, crossing, or parking on Centre St., maybe the most dangerous street in southwest Boston. Two-lane travel and a center turning lane is a great idea.
Road Diet
A road diet on Centre St. in West Roxbury would be a good thing, not just for bicyclists but for pedestrians and drivers as well. Certainly no one can claim to speak for West Roxbury but a full airing of this issue would very much be welcome.
Despite countless accidents and near accidents, as well as a fatality, Centre St. remains a health hazard for all drive, walk, and bike there. Pedestrians who don’t cross at a light are taking a great risk traversing four-lane highway known as Centre St.
Hasn't there been a couple
Hasn't there been a couple fatalities at points on Centre?
I also haven't been consulted by this guy claiming to speak for everyone in the neighborhood.... wonder where he's getting his "data" from....
What I don't understand is that Centre sucks as a driver too. It's not like it's some kind of perfect shangri-la of a road for drivers and screw everybody else - driving it is stressful and insane and like playing Frogger in your car. People double parking, people stopping suddenly for lane changes, people who are aggravated by the above swerving between lanes, the busses that don't pull into their bus stops, lights that are times psychotically... it's a horrible experience no matter what mode of transportation.
Westie does not want an airing of the issue
When this issue was first suggested, there were one or two efforts at dialog, but supporters were all shouted down and booed. And heaven forbid, anybody who hadn't lived in West Roxbury for 150 years try to even get a word in.
It's sort of there
This area has already been narrowed to a single lane where in the past there were two.
What is apparently not known is whether the driver had a health issue, swerved due to something in the road, had a mechanical issue, or similar.
When the car went into the barbershop back in December (on Corinth) social media was ablaze with speculations advanced as fact, as to what happened and why. The same seems to be happening here, and on Twitter where this came from. Police report?
From the looks of the photo, and I am not an STB inspector by any means, the damage to the front end is minimal suggesting a low speed collision. Today's cars are greatly fiberglass and thin aluminum which buckles and fails with as little as a swift kick. Also at the rear of the car in the street there is additional debris that appears to be tail light parts and similar. This suggests that this was a collision of at least 2 cars, followed by the white car either losing control or overcompensating resulting in the impact (low speed) with the building.
There are 2 lanes of traffic merging here and that's a rather dicey result from the narrowing to one land. Sometimes a fix doesn't get the desired results, and just changes the problem. Near misses at this location are all but a daily occurrence.
A neighbor who knew the guy
A neighbor who knew the guy from september said it was a sudden mechanical failure. Now whether that could have been identified and preemptively fixed, etc, is up for debate, but the discussions of drunk drivers etc aren't relevant to that case.
No, but it's a bad turn
There were no improvements blocked here. But that entire block is badly in need of a re-design. Cars tend to speed up as they come around the turn from Washington Street, and the view is obstructed by parked cars as well as a blinding effect from the sun at sunset. The area between the Taft Hill parking lot and Adams Park is a major pedestrian crossing but includes a very wide expanse of pavement and lacks a stop sign (or light). Ideally, Washington Street would be returned to its original two-way configuration; Poplar could be turned into a pedestrian block; and the turn from Washington toward South/Belgrade would be a right angle rather than a curve. It's only a matter of time before a pedestrian is hit in that intersection.
There were some minor
There were some minor pedestrian safety improvements like bollards put in this stretch a few years back since it's a high foot traffic area. Some business owners complained and demanded their removal, which didn't happen.
Flex Posts, Not Bollards
Flex posts went in, they do not work for a job that requires hardened bollards. This is definitely a location that needs the latter.
Pedestrians beware
Can you imagine if you were walking right there? Gone.
When are these drab buildings…
…. ever gonna learn they need to wear high vis clothing?
And stay in the building lane.
Really.
Haha!
These building lanes were a mistake to begin with. Hardly anyone ever uses them except a few privileged college kids. We lost parking spaces because of them. Small businesses are suffering. It’s all the fault of Mayor Wu!
You're joking right? I
You're joking right? I stopped giving my $ to business that opposed the road diet.
Biking down that stretch is a
Biking down that stretch is a freaking nightmare! I always think (whilst in the bike lane) that someone is either going to back up into me or hit me from behind.
I'm sure it's my fault though.