The devastated household of the 5-year-old Andover woman who was killed in a crosswalk final month is looking on city officers to make pedestrian security enhancements within the wake of the tragedy.
In early May, Sidney Mae Olson died after a big truck hit and killed her in an Elm Street downtown crosswalk. The 5-year-old woman was on her strategy to artwork class together with her household.
Sidney’s father Eric Olson and a gaggle of involved dad and mom known as “Sidney’s Rainbows” at the moment are pushing for safer streets in Elm Square and throughout city.
“In an instant, we had an impossible void in our lives,” Olson mentioned in a press release, which he plans to learn at a group discussion board about pedestrian security on Thursday. “My spouse and I misplaced a daughter. My son misplaced his huge sister. Her classmates misplaced a pricey buddy.
“No one should die in a crosswalk,” he added. “Yet, there have been three similar incidents in the last 18 months on Elm Street alone. Andover is thriving, but the slow pace of progress on pedestrian and bicycle safety means we risk our community members dying.”
The city’s inhabitants has jumped by nearly 50% within the final 20 years. In 2005, the inhabitants was 25,000 individuals when the downtown roads have been designed. Now, the city’s inhabitants is about 37,000 individuals.
Meanwhile, crashes in Andover are up 30% over the previous 10 years, in response to knowledge from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Statewide, pedestrian fatalities exceeded 100 final yr, up 35% from 2021.
“Despite global advances in protecting vulnerable road users, we’re going backwards,” Olson mentioned.
He’s pushing the city to make three rapid pedestrian security enhancements.
“Make common sense changes to Elm Square crosswalks, starting with moving vehicle stop lines back farther from crosswalks, adding flex posts to slow speeds, and eliminating turns through intersections when pedestrians have a walk sign,” the daddy mentioned.
The different two modifications are: publish police particulars at Elm Square and different busy intersections at peak visitors instances; and enhance consciousness and enforcement of pace limits on Elm, High, and Central streets with moveable pace bumps, signage and radar indicators.
“There is no action that will bring back our daughter, but we hope this terrible incident can bring us together to create safer streets,” Olson mentioned.
The city ought to decide to zero fatalities and critical accidents with a typical like Vision Zero as a part of Andover’s 5-year Complete Streets Policy, he mentioned, including that the city ought to conduct a radical pedestrian and bicyclist highway security audit for downtown.
The group discussion board on Thursday is at 7 p.m., at Doherty Middle School in Andover.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”