Route 24 is an outdated road, with dangerous ramps, too much traffic causing gridlock and, as statistics below indicate, too many crashes and fatalities.
No attention was focused on this failed road until the Mashpee Wampanoag/Genting proposal in Taunton projected the addition of +20,000 vehicles per day.
Suddenly, we get sorely needed patrols?
How much will infrastructure improvements cost to subsidize Malaysian investors?
Driving on Route 24 still dangerous
Some say increased state police presence making a difference
State police Troop D Commander Maj. Anthony Thomas talks, along Route 24 in Bridgewater on Thursday, July 26, 2012, about new patrols being added to the highway during the most dangerous hours between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
In this 2010 file photo, Route 24 southbound was shut down for some length of time next to Exit 18 due to an accident. Marc Vasconcellos /The Enterprise
BROCKTON —
The Enterprise published a two-day series on Route 24 and why it is so dangerous on July 29-30. Read it at www.enterprisenews.com.
Gail Morrill of Stoughton has seen the difference a beefed-up police presence has had on Route 24.
“There is no more jumping lanes and the speed is way down,” she said.
Other drivers who regularly brave the notoriously dangerous highway during the work week disagreed. They have the same complaints they had about the road before state police bumped up the number of weekend patrols following two deadly accidents in July.
“Cars still pass at a high rate of speed on the right, the tailgaters are still there and drivers are still cutting in and out of lanes,” said Jerry Carney, a commercial truck driver from Nashua, N.H., who drives the 42.8 mile length of Route 24 from Randolph to Fall River between two and three times a week.
The state police “surge,” as it’s called, has resulted in 1,377 tickets and 87 arrests, 45 for drunken driving, in the past five weeks. No one has died on the highway since the surge began.
The added weekend patrols will continue through September.
While the road appears to have become safer to drive since the surge began, the most recent statistics from the state Highway Department on Route 24 – for calendar year 2010 – show that overall, it has become increasingly dangerous over the years.
There were three fatal crashes on the local stretch of Route 24 – from Berkley to Randolph – in 2009.
During 2010, eight people were killed on the same stretch.
And the past year has been even worse. State police said in July that 11 people were killed on the highway during the previous 12 months.
Three people were killed, including a 12-year-old girl from Norton who was a passenger in a car that crashed in Avon, and two people involved in a crash in West Bridgewater, within four days in July alone.
The number of accidents on the local stretch of the 60-year-old state highway increased from 630 in 2009 to 703 in 2010. Non-fatal injuries jumped from 221 to 297.
State police did not return repeated requests for comment during the past week on the added patrols.
Rachel Buckley of Brockton said Route 24 is still a scary commute.
“It’s three lanes so there are people that come right up behind you and tailgate when you’re in the high-speed lane ... which is completely frightening,” she said.
She said that the added weekend patrols have done nothing to improve the behavior of weekday rush-hour drivers.
“Police presence slows some down but the majority of drivers are still going far beyond the speed limit,” Ellen Ladetto of Bridgewater added. “It just goes to show you, it’s a crazy road to travel on.”
Justin Graeber may be reached at jgraeber@enterprisenews.com or follow him on Twitter @justingraeber
READ MORE about Route 24.
Route 24 statistics
8 People killed in accidents on Route 24 during 2010
11 People killed on Route 24 during the last 12 months
11 People killed on Route 24 during all of 2006 through 2009
703 Crashes in 2010 on the 25-mile section of road from Berkley to Randolph
227 People injured on Route 24 in 2010
42.8 Length of the road in miles from Fall River to Randolph
25 Length of the local stretch of Route 24 from Berkley to Randolph
Source: Mass Highway crash statistics.
2010 crash numbers from Route 24 by community
75 Avon
28 Berkley
66 Bridgewater
123 Brockton
82 Randolph
112 Raynham
57 Stoughton
98 Taunton
62 West Bridgewater
703 Total for 25-mile stretch of Route 24 from Berkley to Randolph
Source: Mass Highway statistics for 2010.
Latest traffic accident statistics from Route 24
2010
Total accidents: 703
Injured: 297
Fatalities: 8
2009
Total accidents: 630
Injured: 221
Fatalities: 3
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/answerbook/avon/x1681146184/Accidents-fatalities-on-Route-24-up-in-2010#ixzz25JvUh8SO
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment