Lawrence intersection a danger zone

Sep. 4—LAWRENCE — Traffic pouring into the Lawrence and Haverhill streets intersection often freezes pedestrians in their tracks.

The crossers then beat a retreat, hustle forward or resume with mustered poise, bound for secure territory — the curb ahead.

Risk has loomed over this four-way ever since the pedestrian signals went on the fritz and the crosswalk paint faded or was paved over without re-painting.

On a random, late morning visit to the crossing on Friday, Aug. 26, we talked to crossers.

Andre Taylor of Lawrence said, before braving the crossing, that these walk signals have been broken for a long time.

It's ludicrous. Kids frequent places at all four corners, he said.

"You have a school right here," he said, pointing to the Lawrence North Common Campus (the old high school), with more than 650 students in four programs.

He then looked to the Lawrence Public Library across the street from the school, and then, clockwise, to the grassy North Common with its play equipment and, on the side where he stood by the corner church, a building away to the YMCA.

The Y has preschoolers who grasp rope lines and totter across the intersection guided by a teacher at front and back.

"If they do not do something there is going to be a serious accident, hopefully not a fatality," Taylor said.

Taylor then went on his way. He waited for the Lawrence Street light to turn red and crossed toward the North Common.

Fifteen feet from his destination a car came to the light, stopped and lurched forward to turn right on red.

Taylor froze. The driver stopped. Taylor finished his crossing and looked back and hollered to us, "See what I mean?"

A short while later, a mom, Paola Prozco, with her children, Sciarha, 12, a student at the school, and Aaron Sanchez, 5, a preschooler, skirted the intersection.

They took their chances crossing Lawrence Street 100 feet north of the intersection.

"They should invest in fixing the signals because there are kids going to school," Prozco said, her Spanish translated to English by her daughter.

A North Common Campus crossing guard is posted at the beginning and end of the school day, according to the school system spokesperson. But students from other programs or schools cross at times when there is no crossing guard.

This August morning was not a regular school day. The school year had yet to start.

Two friends who crossed the intersection, earlier, after a visit to the library, said the danger is magnified by speeding vehicles and free-wheeling motorcyclists.

To make matters worse, said one of them, Alma Perez, a Lawrence High school sophomore, the traffic signals sometimes fail.

Then both the pedestrians and the drivers are confused.

It's not just here, where the pedestrian signals are broken. They are also inoperable at two crossings a block away and elsewhere in the city.

But the Lawrence and Haverhill intersection is the second most dangerous intersection for vehicles in 15 Merrimack Valley cities and towns.

Twenty vehicular crashes were reported here between 2018 and 2020, according to Merrimack Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization data.

Some of the same conditions that make the intersection dangerous for traffic apply to pedestrians.

They include congested traffic, poor sight lines and traffic light synchronization problems, according to an in-person traffic audit on June 14 by the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission.

Commission transportation manager Tony Komornick noted 40 problems with the intersection — including the broken pedestrian signals — during the audit.

It was attended by 18 city, regional and state MassDOT employees in bright vests and hardhats.

At one point, Lawrence public safety people in attendance walked out and stopped traffic so preschoolers grasping a walking rope and guided by two of their teachers could safely cross the street.

Shortly thereafter the traffic trackers left the intersection, and teachers leading preschoolers on walking ropes were left to cross on their own.

Asked why the intersection's pedestrian signals have yet to be fixed, more than two months after the audit, Komornick said the signal repairs or replacements are contingent on state funding, which, in turn, require documentation to identify need.

The June audit report has been delayed by staffing issues — sickness and a member who got another job — he said.

He expects to send a draft report of the audit to the state Department of Transportation by the end of the month. (The Eagle-Tribune has requested a copy of the draft report.)

Also at the June audit was a representative of the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority, which operates local bus service on the half hour in Lawrence.

The representative, Lionel Metet, pointed out to commission planner Betsy Goodrich how pedestrians venture dangerously into the road as buses pull to the curb.

Jhovanny Martes, chief of staff for Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena, said this week that he and others at City Hall have experienced difficulty crossing the intersection, walking from City Hall to the library and back.

"We use that intersection very often and know there is a need to have it fixed," he said.

The city's resources have been largely tied up with three large building projects, the Leahy and Oliver schools and the police station, he said.

But he is reaching out to the fire, public works and engineering departments to see what can be done to address the Lawrence and Haverhill intersection crossing.

Meanwhile, many crossers who use walkers or canes or wheelchairs are limited in how fast they can respond to encounters with oncoming traffic.

Kurt Nuernberg, who is sight-impaired and uses a walking stick, says it can be trying to cross where the signals and their audio prompts are broken.

"It can be difficult," he said, interviewed after crossing the intersection. "I mean, I go by hearing, but some of these electric cars are very quiet, so it can be dangerous."

In fact just a minute earlier he had moved to step off the curb and retreated when he heard a car cross the intersection, then waited to cross until he heard Lawrence Street traffic had the right of way.

Even intersections with operating pedestrian signals are not foolproof, he said. Drivers turn right on red.

"I've had my cane rode over a few times, broken my cane," he said.