The Worcester City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to approve a proposal to lower the city’s speed limit.
The proposal lowers the city’s statutory speed limit to 25 mph from 30 mph and establishes 20 mph safety zones in “sensitive areas,” including parks, playgrounds, hospitals, senior citizen housing and childcare centers.
The proposed change to speed limits comes as there have been multiple serious and fatal crashes that have taken place in the city. On June 24, a 1-year-old girl suffered a head injury after being hit by a car near 243 Lincoln St. A 13-year-old girl was struck and killed by a vehicle on Belmont Street on June 27. Another 13-year-old was seriously injured after being hit by a car while crossing Shrewsbury street on July 29, and only recently woke up from a coma.
This past Monday morning, a fatal crash took place near 465 Shrewsbury St., killing a 26-year-old Westborough man who was riding a motorcycle, according to a press release from the Worcester Police Department.
A week before the vote, the Traffic and Parking subcommittee voted to move the proposal from the subcommittee to the full council for a vote. The subcommittee members also recommended a favorable recommendation towards the proposal’s passage.
Councilor-at-Large Donna Colorio, who chairs the subcommittee, said this vote did not come easy for her but she encouraged the rest of the Council to vote in favor of the proposal on Tuesday.
“We will be able to move forward as a city with safer streets with lower speed limits as well as further expand the traffic enforcement division of the Worcester Police Department,” Colorio said.
Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King, another subcommittee member, also spoke out in support of the proposal on Tuesday.
“The research shows us that there is a 42% chance of there being less likelihood of a fatality,” King said. “Thats a chance that we must take.”
Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman said he had unanswered questions about lowering the speed limit. Bergman said he was not sure where an increase in street enforcement of the speed limit would come from and said distracted driving is the leading factor in traffic fatalities instead of speeding.
Nevertheless, Bergman supported the measure and suggested the council re-evaluate the proposal after a certain period.
“I do hope in the end that this causes what we all want it to cause, which is less accidents,” Bergman said. “I’ll keep an open mind.”
Even though the Council approved the proposal, it will not automatically go into effect. Thomas Matthews, a spokesman for Worcester City Manager Eric Batista, told MassLive signage would need to be replaced before the new speed limit takes effect.
Matthews told MassLive that the hope is to have all the signage done this fall.
The proposal to lower speed limits was first introduced by Batista on Dec. 5, 2023, as part of Vision Zero — a street safety movement that aims to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on Worcester’s roadways. After the proposal was sent to the traffic and parking subcommittee, five separate meetings were held in each of the city’s five districts to gage public opinion and hear feedback, according to Colorio.
Colorio said the meetings had a combined total audience of approximately 40 people and was disappointed about what she felt was a lack of public participation. She then requested an online survey to get more public opinion — which the council voted in favor of on May 7, according to the council minutes. The Department of Transportation and Mobility then launched the survey in June and compiled the data in August, Colorio said.
On Aug. 1, Batista and Mayor Joseph Petty issued a statement declaring a road safety crisis, to “draw attention to the serious and worsening problem of traffic violence and rally the community behind actions to address it.” This year, more than 2,800 motor vehicle crashes have taken place in Worcester, 51 of which caused serious injuries or deaths. More than 90 of those crashes have involved pedestrians or cyclists, according to the statement.
Co-chair of WalkBike Worcester Karin Valentine Goins, who attended the meeting Tuesday, told MassLive she was surprised but happy the proposal passed unanimously.
“I did not expect unanimous support,” Goins said. “I am very happy to move on from this chapter and move on to infrastructure.”
Oliver Chadwick, another supporter living in Worcester, told MassLive he was pleased with the Council’s vote, too. Chadwick and several other residents spoke in favor of the proposal before the vote on Tuesday. Chadwick acknowledged lowering the speed limit alone would not be enough to end all pedestrian deaths but he considers the Council’s vote a move in the right direction.
“All of this couldn’t have gone better,” Chadwick said.
