Boston changes traffic signal at Forest Hills MBTA stop after man was killed by bus
BOSTON - A walk signal has been made longer in an intersection that causes considerable anxiety outside the Forest Hills MBTA stop.
That anxiety was compounded when 63-year-old Glenn Inghram of Jamaica Plain was struck and killed in October.
"We were knocking on that door for a long time before Glenn's death," said Ben Siegel who lives in the neighborhood and spearheaded a petition drive to get safety changes made in the area.
New pedestrian walk light
It was an intersection with a concurrent traffic signal, one of 300 in Boston where pedestrians and vehicles can cross at the same time, a traffic moving system used in many cities.
In this case, Glenn Inghram was hit by an MBTA bus exiting the busway at the same time he was crossing, the driver was accused of not yielding to a pedestrian as required by law.
"The city is reactive more than proactive, meaning it took a horrible tragedy like this for them to step up and do something," said Thomas Flaws, an attorney for Inghram's family.
The city has now installed a full pedestrian walk light, giving pedestrians 20 seconds to cross the intersection before vehicles can move as well. Advocates welcome the change, but hope is it doesn't stop there.
"I know that the city has so many intersections that they want to address," said Brendan Kearney of WalkMassachusetts. "I think part of it is capacity, do they have the staff and the money to be able to upgrade a number of these intersections."
Looking to change more intersections
Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Boston's Chief of Streets, tells WBZ-TV that $18 million in federal and state money has been secured to reevaluate the safety of signalized intersections. How quickly that will be done is not clear.
"We must ensure safe crossings for pedestrians while also preventing an intersection from becoming congested to the point where there is a safety hazard," Franklin-Hodge said in a statement.
"I would be thrilled if the city was able to look holistically at careful intersections. I know that they're doing some of that work, but I hope that incidents like these help the city give this the priority that it needs," said Siegel.
Attorney Flaws agrees saying the city doesn't need to change all traffic signals, "but I think a review of all of them would be in order."
The family of Glenn Inghram is moving ahead with a lawsuit, holding the MBTA driver accountable for the tragedy. But the hope is the city will do its part to prevent it from happening again.