Woonsocket council hears pleas for safer streets after child’s death; officials pledge actions, point to CDBG funds

Dozens of residents urged the Woonsocket City Council on July 14 to act on pedestrian and traffic safety after a 3-year-old boy was killed June 26 while riding a bicycle.

Chelsea Fernandez, a Fairmount neighborhood resident who organized a petition after the death, told the council she wants permanent traffic-calming changes including raised crosswalks, “drive slow/children at play” signage at key entrances and a formal traffic safety study by Public Works or the state Department of Transportation. “I would hate for another child to be lost,” Fernandez said.

The appeal drew several other Fairmount-area speakers who described frequent speeding, limited sightlines because of cars parked on both sides of narrow streets and requests for stop signs at intersections they said have none. Valerie Curtis, a Fairmount resident of 53 years, said a light was removed decades ago at Fairmount and Second and that a four-way stop “never…