Boston Road in Springfield continues to be an area of concern for residents and business owners following a spike in deadly crashes and reckless speeding.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Boston Road in Springfield continues to be an area of concern for residents and business owners following a spike in deadly crashes and reckless speeding.
Just three weeks ago, a woman was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in the area of Boston Road and Berkshire Avenue in Springfield. Also, just a month ago two people were seriously injured after crashing their vehicle into the McDonald’s on Boston Road.
Vincent Salemi, owner of Salemi Appliances, thought that Springfield police would increase patrols in that area because of all of the activity, but they haven’t. He’s concerned about cars driving 50-60 miles an hour on this 35-mile-per-hour road and he’s worried about his customers and pedestrians trying to cross the street.
Salemi says that the time is now to do something, “People are just going to keep dying and, people getting hit. I mean, that woman was just crossing the road in the evening and to got hit by a crazy driver,” exclaimed Salemi.
“That guy wasn’t going 35”
Springfield police to step up patrols to enforce speed limits
Last month, the Springfield Police Department said they will continue to use a combination of traffic enforcement initiatives and increase the number of patrols to crack down on speeding.
Police Superintendent Akers and the Police Traffic Bureau are urging drivers to follow the speed limits and put down their phones. To reduce speeding, police have placed digital billboards on several streets warning residents.
“We do not want to play the blame game, we simply do not want to see any more citizens losing their lives due to senseless/reckless driving. We have seen most recent fatal accidents involve a single car, a single driver, indicating that speeding and distracted driving are serious problems out on the roads,” said Superintendent Akers.
LIVE MAP: Boston Road in Springfield
Last year there were 18 deadly accidents in the city of Springfield, compared to this year there have been 11 deadly crashes so far.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.