PEABODY — The message delivered by residents to elected officials and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) about the dangerous conditions on Route 114 was loud and clear, at a City Council Safety subcommittee meeting Thursday night at Wiggin Auditorium.
“I will close this meeting with just three words,” said Chair and Ward 5 Councilor Joel Saslaw. “Fix it now.”
Saslaw convened the meeting to address the ongoing safety issues plaguing Route 114 and a troubling trend of deaths in traffic accidents on the Peabody-Danvers stretch of the five-lane road. Three Peabody residents who lost family members shared powerful stories about the lasting impact that losing their loved ones has had on them, and also to ask the state to replace the middle (so-called left turn) lane with a median strip.
A large group of young people attended the meeting, many of them holding “Fix 114 Now” signs.
John Mellace lost his brother, Robert, in May 2020.
“It’s the worst news anyone can receive,” he said. “He was my brother, my business partner, my best friend and was only 50. My office is on Route 114 so it is a constant reminder. Something must be done.”
Rachel Dellacroce, who lost her 18-year-old son, Nicholas, in a Danvers accident in July 2021, said Route 114 is a “matter of life and death.” She said Nicholas was on his motorcycle coming home from work at Trader Joe’s when a driver cut across five lanes near the shopping area, struck, and killed him.
“If there had been a median, which I didn’t know is called the ‘suicide lane,’ I would still have two sons,” said Dellacroce, who spoke alongside Nick’s twin, Jacob.
Dellacroce shared statistics showing how dangerous the stretch of road from Danvers to North Andover is, with 16 fatal accidents and 5,542 accidents since 2002. She said a 2012 MassDOT safety study identified high-crash-rate areas, including one at the intersection of Brooksby Village Drive. She cited a story published in the Patch on May 25, 2018 identifying Route 114 as one of the top-200 accident areas in the state.
“It said they had a $2.7 million project to begin in 2021. You’ve got a couple of weeks there; I don’t think they’re going to get it done,” she said. “I lost my son because of the lack of safety on this road. I am here to ask the legislators to take it forward.”
Jackson Frechette, an eighth grader at the Higgins Middle School, was 13 when he was struck and killed by a car in November 2019 while attempting to cross Route 114 on a bicycle.
“It’s plain and simple,” said Jackson’s father, John Frechette. “If you have a problem at your home or house, you fix it. This needs to be fixed.”
Several elected officials agreed there needs to be change.
“Rep. (Sally ) Kerans, Sen. (Joan) Lovely and I have been in constant contact with the department and have relayed all of the messages we are hearing tonight,” said state Rep. Thomas Walsh (D-Peabody).
Lovely, who was participating remotely, expressed her strong support for working with MassDOT on a resolution.
Kerans thanked the many young people in attendance for delivering a “powerful message.”
MassDOT District 4 Highway Director Paul Stedman said the state’s first step will be to conduct a “deep-dive safety analysis” of crash incidents over the past three years to get a “clear picture of what is occuring in the corridor.” A design consultant will be engaged to determine what’s needed, he said.
Stedman said the department will look at the entire corridor for all users and craft a system that is safe for all users, but noted that it takes time.
Stedman’s comments didn’t go over well with several councilors.
“Stop appeasing us,” Ward 3 Councilor James Moutsoulas said. “I’m pretty damn angry that we can’t fix a problem like this. I don’t have the answers but your civil engineers do. Get them down here and straighten it out.”
“We’re not the ones to fix this and I hope this isn’t going to take five meetings like this,” said Councilor-at-Large Jon Turco. “The people who can fix it are all here. Has there been no plan at all?”
Stedman said that while there is ongoing work in the Esquire Road area, it is challenging to get funding for state-highway projects.
Walsh said there are small things that can be done to improve safety immediately, including adjusting light cycles.
Dana Dellacroce, Nick’s father, advised parents to continue to push for a median strip.
“Don’t be complacent, this can happen to anybody and is 1,000 times worse than anything I have ever experienced,” he said. “Nick had no tickets, he wasn’t speeding. No amount of money is worth having a life lost. This road needs a median.”
