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Residents urge faster safety fixes on northern Hyde Park Ave after packed off-site hearing
Summary
A committee hearing drew nearly 100 attendees and about 40 public speakers demanding traffic-calming, signal changes and enforcement on the northern stretch of Hyde Park Avenue; the Council left the matter in committee and urged the administration to act faster.
A Boston City Council hearing on safety along the northern stretch of Hyde Park Avenue drew a packed crowd and dozens of public comments calling for faster, stronger traffic-calming measures.
The Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, chaired by Councilor Durkin, held the hearing in Jamaica Plain after residents repeatedly raised concerns about speeding, unsafe intersections and a history of serious crashes, including the 2024 death of pedestrian Glenn Ingram. City officials from the Transportation and Streets departments described current plans—primarily a repaving project—but community members said repaving alone is insufficient.
Councilor Ryan Weber, a lead sponsor, told colleagues the corridor near Forest Hills combines congestion and dangerous conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and buses. Weber and other councilors urged state-level steps such as automated traffic enforcement (red-light and speed cameras) and faster deployment of tools including transit signal priority to protect bus operations.
Yasha Franklin Hodge, chief of streets, Matt Moran, transit team director, and Tyler Lou, project manager in the streets department, testified and answered questions about technical constraints and timelines. Approximately 40 community members testified and nearly 100 people attended the off-site hearing, according to the committee report.
Councilors participating from across the city praised the decision to hold a community hearing and urged the administration to move from study to implementation. Multiple councilors asked the administration to pursue short-term enforcement and interim geometric changes while longer-term engineering work proceeds.
The docket (1450) will remain in committee for follow-up; the committee’s report called for the administration to produce more concrete timelines, consider concurrent signal changes, and coordinate with state legislators on automated enforcement authority.
Committee leaders said they will press the administration to produce specific proposals—traffic-calming designs, enforcement plans, and timelines—so residents can see a path from public testimony to street-level changes.
