Transportation advocates and City Councillor John FitzGerald responded positively to the new policies outlined in a wide-ranging letter from Mayor Michelle Wu on Friday in response to the tragic death of city Transportation Planner Louisa Gag on July 9.
Most vocal about changes since Gag’s death has been LivableStreets Alliance, where Gag once worked as a transportation and bicycle advocate.
Maha Aslam, a project manager at the organization, said the mayor’s update covers many of the issues that the group seeks to address.
“It’s unfortunate a tragedy like Louisa’s crash had to happen for us to all step back and re-assess because in some shape and way advocates had been talking about project being delayed or re-introduced and some of it felt dysfunctional,” said Aslam.
“It felt like this was a way to re-think strategic things and re-assess organizational things.”
The group applauded the new leadership positions in the Streets Cabinet filled by Chris Osgood and Tali Robbins, Aslam said. They were also supportive of a new advisory team announced by Wu and the move to think about safety around bigger vehicles like heavy commercial trucks, one of which was involved in the crash that caused Gag’s death.
And the idea of getting monthly updates on the city’s Vision Zero dashboard was seen as a win, as the city had only committed to doing that quarterly before the letter was released.
Wu’s pledge to publish a list of projects that are immediate priorities also won praise.
“I think it’s a very good accountability tool and even if a project does not get completed we have a list to go by,” she said.
What was missing, Aslam noted, was “explicit language recommitting to Vision Zero.” That program began in the Walsh administration and was an effort to re-think the city’s streets in terms of safety, with a vision to have zero deaths. She said the City Council passed language recently that supported a return to Vision Zero.
“A lot of things put in there are good policy around Vision Zero, but there’s no authoritative language about re-committing to Vision Zero,” she said.
“We need to acknowledge that in some places cars need to slow down,” she added. “That’s a difficult conversation and people don’t like to hear it…I don’t think anyone driving a motor vehicle wants to hurt anyone. Sometimes slowing down just means literally asking people to drive within the speed limit.”
That’s a sentiment Councillor FitzGerald agreed with. He called the tragic death of Gag “heartbreaking.” As to moving forward on new policy, he said he’s ready to work with the administration.
“I appreciate the mayor’s focus on improving street safety, but we must ensure these efforts produce real results in a timely manner,” he said. “That means investing in safer infrastructure where it makes sense – including the installation of speed humps, enforcing traffic laws consistently, and holding reckless drivers accountable.”
FitzGerald said he participates annually in the Pan Mass Challenge – a multi-day charity bicycle race that he trains for every year and at his own peril.
“I myself have experienced the dangers that can come with sharing our city streets with cars during my training rides, and it’s rather evident courtesy on the roads is declining rapidly,” he said.
“I would like to see more connecting pathways like the Neponset Greenway and Southwest Corridor that give a multi-modal function for our residents without placing them near the ever increasing distracted drivers who are not paying attention or disobeying the rules of the road.”
