Police request study on one of the city’s most crash-prone sites

The intersection of Lexington and Beaver comes under scrutiny

Following two recent crashes at the intersection of Lexington and Beaver streets, the Police Department requested that a traffic signal safety study be discussed at the Traffic Commission meeting on Feb. 20.

Police Sgt. William Gallant told The Times that he decided to request the study to ensure things such as signal timing weren’t increasing the likelihood of crashes.

Michael Garvin, the city’s senior traffic engineer, said he hopes commission members act on the request.

“I’m recommending that they direct me to do a thorough study,” said Garvin.

Garvin said that traffic engineers look for similarities between accidents when studying an intersection to determine whether their similarities are coincidences or the result of an issue with the intersection’s design.

The two recent crashes at the intersection of Lexington and Beaver streets involved southbound vehicles attempting to take left turns, which resulted in the turning vehicles colliding with vehicles traveling northbound. Garvin said that the city’s traffic engineering office would look at crash data for the last five years to determine if this has been a recurring issue.

City’s most crash-prone intersections

According to an annual report Garvin received from the Police Department, the intersection had 15 crashes in 2024, which was the fourth-highest number of crashes for intersections in the city.

The Piety Corner intersection, where Lexington Street, Bacon Street and Totten Pond Road meet, had the highest number of crashes that year, with 18.

The intersection of Beaver Street and Waverly Oaks Road had the second highest with 17.

The intersection of Totten Pond Road, Third Avenue and Winter Street had 16, making it the third highest.

Main and Harris had the fifth highest, with 14.

The intersection of Beaver and Forest streets, the intersection of Trapelo Road and Smith Street, and the intersection of Winter and Second streets each had 13 crashes total in 2024.

The intersection of Lexington Street and Trapelo Road had 11 crashes last year, as did the Main, Moody and Common streets intersection. 

Factors contributing to number of crashes

Multiple factors contribute to how many crashes occur at a given intersection, such as the number of vehicles that travel through an intersection, Garvin said.

“When an intersection or a roadway has higher traffic volumes then, independent of any other factors, you would expect more crashes to occur just because there’s more cars,” said Garvin.

He said that the intersection’s traffic volume, number of crashes and the time it takes for vehicles to travel through the intersection could help calculate the area’s crash rate.

Garvin said he doesn’t have the intersection’s traffic volume data yet, but he can gather it if given the green light to do so by the Traffic Commission.