Relief is on the way for “vulnerable road users” who try to navigate the streets near the I-290 eastbound off-ramp along Plantation Street in front of the Worcester Housing Authority.
A MassDOT public hearing earlier this month outlined a road safety project slated to begin next spring as part of a federally mandated VRU safety assessment launched in 2023. The assessment found that crashes involving these users have increased nationwide in recent years.
According to the National Safety Council, a vulnerable road user is “anyone who is not protected by an outside shield.” The council says this includes “pedestrians, roadway workers, a person operating a wheelchair, and a person operating a bicycle or other nonmotorized means of transportation.”
In Worcester, the department found a key location lacking a safe crosswalk and streetlights across from the I-290 eastbound off-ramp.
“Worcester will be constructing a new crosswalk and curb cut as well as adding curb ramps on the crosswalk,” Jonathan Freeman, the project manager for the work in Worcester, told attendees at the hearing. He said this will help make the crosswalk on Plantation Street in front of the Worcester Housing Authority safer to cross.
Also, Freeman said, the lights off the southbound ramp “will be changed so that you can only go on green and yellow arrows. Right now, it is a flashing arrow.”
According to the department’s highway division, the project’s main goals are to improve safety, accessibility, and pedestrian connectivity.
According to MassDOT project information, the total cost is estimated at $548,391.40, with the federal participating construction cost being capped at $622,383. According to the department’s guide to estimating highway projects, this means that the federal government will cover the full cost of the project.
Freeman said work will begin in spring 2027 and will take approximately one year, adding there will not be any long-term road closures at any of the locations, although temporary sidewalk and ramp closures will happen.
The project is currently in the design phase and Freeman said “feedback is important to the success of this project.”
