Chelsea’s Traffic and Parking Commission voted Wednesday night to keep studying traffic calming and better lighting around Cottage and Bellingham streets, the area where a 2-year-old girl was struck and killed by a vehicle on October 14.
The item on the agenda was a resident’s October 15 letter asking for speed bumps on Cottage Street. The deputy director of the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development, who spoke for the city on the item, told the commission it came forward because of what he called an unspeakable tragedy. He said he could not comment on the police investigation, which is still open.
“Everyone here in this city who works for it is fully committed to a Vision Zero policy,” he said. He described Vision Zero, which the city has adopted, as the goal of bringing traffic deaths and serious injuries to zero. “I personally consider this a moral obligation,” he said.
Lights already fixed
The deputy director said he had visited the site with staff from Public Works and the city’s public safety departments. He said the city will work with the electric utility on brighter lighting in the area and will study traffic calming for the longer term.
A commission member said a light on a telephone pole about 60 feet from the spot had been out. The city’s electrical contractor replaced it last week, he said, and the electric company replaced a second light farther up Bellingham Street.
The commission approved the deputy director’s motion to continue the study, with no one voting against it. He did not give a date for recommendations or say whether speed bumps are under consideration.
The girl was hit on Bellingham Street at about 9:40 p.m. on October 14, moments after she and her mother were dropped off in front of their home, Chelsea police said at the time. Police said the driver stayed at the scene. No one has been charged, and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is investigating.
During public comment, District 5 Councillor Lisa Santagate said she had walked the corner of Bellingham and Cottage streets with a police officer during a recent district walk.
Eastern Avenue and Carroll Street
The commission also took up District 3 Councillor Norieliz DeJesus’s October 7 request for pedestrian safety and traffic calming at Eastern Avenue and Carroll Street.
The deputy director said the intersection falls inside a Safe Routes to School infrastructure project funded by a grant, but construction is not expected before 2028. Until then, he proposed that his department and Public Works look at what the permanent design calls for and put in temporary quick-build materials where they can.
A commission member said Public Works repainted the “do not block the intersection” markings there less than a month ago and added a sign. He said a crosswalk could be added on the side closest to Broadway, which has none now.
The commission approved a motion for Housing and Community Development and Public Works to study temporary traffic calming at the intersection before the permanent changes are built.
Read the full transcript or watch the meeting on Chelsea Community Cable.