SWAMPSCOTT — Pedestrian safety near St. John the Evangelist Church on Humphrey Street is the focus for town officials and police after a 93-year-old man was critically injured when he was hit by a car while crossing the street there last week. Officials and police cite the early morning solar glare as a major issue in that area.
The man was struck shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with critical injuries. Although he’s in stable condition, he is still in the hospital, Swampscott Police Sgt. Tim Cassidy said.
The driver of the car, a woman in her 20s, has not been charged. The accident is still under investigation by Detective Candace Doyle, of Swampscott Police, and State Police, Cassidy said.
Cassidy said the accident occurred almost exactly a year after John Lofgren, 73, of Lynn, was killed crossing in front of the church, located at 174 Humphrey St. Lofgren was killed after he was struck by a car in the crosswalk last Dec. 3 shortly after 7:30 a.m.
Cassidy said it seems like every year or so, someone is hit there because of the sun’s glare.
“This time of the year, because the sun glare is so bad, you can’t see in the early morning when people are traveling to work,” Cassidy said. “It’s really bad. It’s a really, really tough area.”
According to statistics provided by Swampscott Police Capt. John Alex, from January 2015 through Monday, there were eight accidents along that area of Humphrey Street. Three of them, including last year’s fatality and the one last week, occurred in the time directly around sunrise.
On May 26, there was another early morning accident where a car rear ended another near the church shortly after 6:30 a.m. In the mid-’90s, there was also another fatal pedestrian accident in front of the church because of the sun, Alex said.
John Connor, 81, owner of Connor Real Estate in Lynn and a Nahant resident, said he attends the early mass service at St. John’s Church. He said there’s a real safety problem there, adding there is an issue with the town of Swampscott not providing the safety for people to get across the street. He said cars are not stopping and many of the people going to the church are elderly.
“It’s not so much a police problem as it is a problem Swampscott has, making sure their traffic is run on a safe basis,” Connor said. “I’m laying it on the town of Swampscott … I think they should be addressing this. It’s an issue. When people start getting killed, it’s pretty serious.”
Following last year’s fatality, the Board of Selectmen approved a recommendation from the town’s Traffic Study Advisory Committee to add a flashing pedestrian crossing signal on Humphrey Street at St. John’s Church.
Peter Kane, director of community development, said at the time that the request was in response to that accident and there had been previous incidents at that location. He said the crossing signal can enhance safety by reducing crashes between vehicles and pedestrians at intersections without signals and crosswalks by increasing driver awareness.
Kane said this week the two rapid reflecting pedestrian lights approved by the selectmen will be installed on either side of the crosswalk. The lights on the yellow pedestrian crossing sign flash when a pedestrian hits the button to cross the street.
Gino Cresta, department of public works director and assistant town administrator, said he ordered them last week, and the solar-powered pedestrian signs, which cost about $1,700 each, will be installed as soon as they come in, which could be another week to 10 days.
Cresta said the signs were ordered until the town could get the funding for more expensive and advanced signs that are also solar powered. Those cost about $10,000 each and would require the passing of a capital article if the town were to move forward. Because of the solar glare, he said it might not matter what the town puts there.
“This time of the year when the sun comes down, it’s brutal,” Cresta said. “(You) just can’t see.”
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said safety in that area is an issue the town is very concerned about, which was discussed during a Traffic Study Advisory Committee meeting this week. He said the accident last week has caused officials to take another careful look at the crosswalk. Another factor with the solar glare is that the church is at the crest of the hill.
“Humphrey Street is a really busy street,” Fitzgerald said. “The public safety concerns are long standing in front of that crosswalk … It can be really difficult during certain times of the day with blinding sunlight affecting visibility. We have to look at a few strategies that would help keep pedestrians safe.”
Fitzgerald said the town is looking at a number of strategies from education to enforcement to infrastructure. He said infrastructure would be the most expensive, but the town could certainly get additional information out on Humphrey Street about the importance of pedestrian safety and look at strategies to ensure motorists are careful as they travel along a busy corridor.
Cassidy said to increase safety in that area, it would be nice if the church had the parishioners park in the back of the church or on Humphrey Street, not in the church’s parking lot across the street. He said there is a police officer there all the time directing traffic during the masses — at least one of the police officers was almost struck there while doing so.
Police Chief Ronald Madigan also cited the solar glare as the main culprit affecting safety.
“It seems at this time of the year there is an issue with solar glare when you’re traveling eastbound to Marblehead,” Madigan said. “What’s being done now is the traffic committee has met and made recommendations for installation of warning devices and some improved signage. We’re doing all we can to mitigate the environmental impact that occurs there. It’s a very real problem.”
