City council will face a flurry of requests from traffic to trash on Tuesday

WORCESTER — It’s been over a month since the Worcester City Council met in full session, and council members have brought an especially full plate of requests to Tuesday.

A scan of Tuesday’s agenda — particularly the City Council order — makes one theme abundantly clear: traffic safety and proposals to mitigate serious crashes in a city that has been rocked by several in recent months.

Another common topic of the City Council order is concern over Worcester Polytechnic Institute planned purchase of two hotelswhich has sparked significant backlash from the city’s political and business leaders.

There are many more orders to go around, including litter, an order about bodies, an invitation to Worcester’s Olympic hero and rodents.

Traffic safety

One of the biggest concerns for Worcester officials and residents this summer has been traffic accidents and pedestrian safety.

In early August, City Manager Eric D. Batista and Mayor Joseph M. Petty declared what they call a “Road Safety and Traffic Violence Crisis” in Worcester after several crashes. Recent crashes include the following:

June 25, a 1-year-old girl was struck by a vehicle on Lincoln Street. She suffered a head injury.
June 27 was 13-year-old Gianna Rose Simoncini fatally struck with a motor vehicle while crossing the street in the area of 370 Belmont St. between Plantation Street and Lake Avenue.
On July 19, a vehicle struck a man riding an electric scooter traveling eastbound on June Street between Edgewood and Carlisle streets. A 26-year-old man identified as Jacob Tetreault was taken to hospital with serious injuries. He is expected to survive, according to police.
On July 26, a 13-year-old girl was affected serious injuries after being hit by a car in the area of 164 Shrewsbury St. The victim, Ayuen Leet, is in a comaaccording to her family. Van Nguyen, 18, have been cited for driving to endanger, speeding and failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway.
On April 11, a 40-year-old woman was hit by a car while walking on Greenwood Street. She is now conscious and has been released from the hospital, according to police.

According to government data, the city saw more crashes for the first half of the year than in the years before and a new report from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau focused on the factors that lead to accidents with vulnerable road users and their various costs.

City administration has been asked to address some quick fixes for roads with a high frequency of serious accidents, such as Belmont Street, Shrewsbury Street and Lincoln Street.

The city is also working towards developing long-term traffic calming measures as part of its operations Zero vision program intended to eliminate deaths and serious injuries.

This year, the months-long municipal council debate was also reviewed reconfiguration of Mill Street to reduce the street to one lane on both sides and a parking protected cycle lane intended to reduce speed and create a safer route for cyclists. While the council ultimately voted to keep Mill Street as it is for now, several councilors questioned whether the design was dangerous for drivers and caused crashes with parked cars.

The city has begun installing flexible bollards to further divide the lane and parking lot on Mill Street.

On Tuesday, the City Council will spend a lot of time considering street safety with many items that somehow touch traffic and pedestrian safety.

The following is a list of orders, petitions and a decision related to road safety:

District 3 City Councilman George Russell is asking Batista to review Greenwood Street to install additional crosswalks and speed limit signs.
Alderman-at-Large and City Council Vice President Khrystian King is requesting that Batista revive a September 2023 order for a safety audit of the school drop-off and pick-up areas; the safety of municipal streets where schools are located and where children must use when going to school; which schools have crosswalks and flashing light crosswalk signs and which schools have 20 mph signs posted.
King is also asking the chief to consider establishing a pilot program for mid-block crosswalks for high pedestrian traffic locations with the state Department of Transportation, as well as a report on common pedestrian areas for crosswalks.
Another King order directs the chief to consider “pedestrian-focused overlay zones” by changing traffic pattern rules to focus on pedestrians and vulnerable road users. King also wants a report outlining an ordinance that would establish “minimum street connectivity” to create multiple alternative routes for cars and pedestrians.
King is also looking to revive a November 2023 order to establish a pilot program to install a high-intensity activated pedestrian crossing (HAWK) system. HAWKs are beacons similar to traffic lights. Pedestrians can push a button and a light on top of a crosswalk starts flashing to tell drivers when to slow down and stop. The lighthouses have been adopted in Phoenix. District 1 City Councilwoman Jennifer Pacillo also has a request for a HAWK beacon to be installed at the median near 570 Lincoln St. and 591 Boylston St.
District 2 City Councilwoman Candy Mero-Carlson orders a vote to repeal the 35 mph posted speed limit for Belmont Street and return it to the statutory speed limit of 30 mph.
She also asks Batista to consider purchasing additional speed monitors to install in areas with high pedestrian traffic and areas where there has been an increase in accidents and fatalities. She also asks Batista to consider purchasing additional solar-powered flashing LED school speed limit signs for all city schools.
Mero-Carlson also wants a report on the feasibility of installing additional speed bumps in areas with an increased risk of speeding.
Petty is asking Interim Police Chief Paul B. Saucier to provide a report for a strategic traffic control and training plan.
City councilor Morris Bergman wants a report from the director of community development on the timing of installing speed bumps in the past year and possible explanations for any delays.
District 5 City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj has filed a non-binding resolution stating that the council supports faster adoption of a statutory speed limit of 25 mph in the city and 20 mph safety zones. In addition, the resolution calls for the City Council to support the implementation of traffic calming and other measures for Complete Streets as part of all the city’s road projects. In announcing the emergency declaration in August, Petty and Batista listed the statutory speed limits and safety zone policies in place to promote safety. The policies remain in the Standing Committee on Traffic and Parking after a series of public input sessions concluded.

WPI and two hotels

Several leaders in urban politics and business have expressed dissatisfaction last week at WPI’s plans to buy two hotels in the city – the Hampton Inn & Suites at 65 Prescott St. and the Courtyard by Marriott at 72 Grove St. – so that they can be turned into student housing.

Leaders have said the move could significantly hurt the city’s tax base, would clash with the intended goals of the multimillion-dollar Gateway Park project, eliminate 100 hotel jobs and hurt the city’s tourism and events industry.

On Thursday, a majority of the municipal council had either signed a letter calls on WPI to cancel the purchase or has issued other statements disputing the purchase.

The following orders are related to the planned purchases or review of the city’s payments in lieu of tax agreements with WPI and other colleges and universities:

Petty is asking Batista to provide a report on how the WPI purchase will affect the city and the history of the Gateway Park project and any agreements the city made with the hotels in the project.
Bergman is requesting a report on any Gateway Park agreements that include WPI, any PILOT agreements with WPI, and any legal opportunities to minimize colleges and universities from removing real property from the tax rolls.
Mero-Carlson wants a report on what impact the purchase would have on the city’s travel and tourism efforts and on what conditions would allow the city to tax a college property.
Haxhiaj wants an update to a January 2023 order for a list of properties purchased by colleges and universities dating back to 2019, whether the property was kept on the tax rolls, any signed community benefit agreements tied to new projects and what changes were made to PILOT grants.

Other orders

More orders are on deck for Tuesday. Here are some:

Russell has several litter-related orders. Russell previously announced orders to request that Batista consider discontinuing the proceedings for refuse garbage bags who are believed to be overweight – more than 15 pounds for a small bag or more than 30 pounds for a large bag – or have similar violations. In addition, Russell is requesting a report explaining why the city does not allow merchants to recoup credit card charges incurred when residents use cards to purchase trash bags.
Mero-Carlson wants a report on the number of spas in the city, their hours of operation and how the city regulates them. In addition, she wants to learn the feasibility and appropriateness of regulating the hot tub with an ordinance. One such former spa, Angie’s Bodyworks Spa on Pleasant Street, was investigated for advertising massage services without the proper license following a fatal Thanksgiving 2022 shooting at the spa.
Councilwoman Kathleen Toomey asks for the Petty invitation Stephen Nedoroscika Worcester native who rose to national fame after competing as a gymnast in the Paris Olympics and winning two bronze medals for an upcoming council meet. Nedoroscik, who is known for his specialization in the horse, would be “recognized and appropriately feted” at the meeting.
Pacillo is asking the Department of Inspection Services to create a rodent action plan to alleviate the city’s rodent population.