“No one should die in a crosswalk”
The following is a transcript from Eric’s speech at Andover’s Town Forum in early June
I’m Eric Olson. I’m speaking on behalf of myself and my wife Mary Beth.
On a cool and bright evening in May, a large truck hit and killed my five-year-old daughter Sidney in an Andover crosswalk. She was on her way to art class with her mother, brother, and cousin.
In an instant, we had an impossible void in our lives. My wife and I lost a daughter. My son lost his big sister. Her classmates lost a dear friend.
We’re here tonight to make sure no one has to feel that pain again. Andover can - and should - be a place free from pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries.
We’re fortunate here to have a community that supports each other. Since May 9th, we’ve raised $130K for education and safety programs. We held a community picnic to help parents and children grieve. And, a large, colorful group of Andover parents have come together to partner with the town, state officials, and TEC to make our streets safer.
I want to thank Sidney’s rainbows in particular, a group of moms, most with full time jobs, who have worked around the clock to assemble the thoughtful ideas you’ll hear tonight. I also want to thank Andrew Flannagan, Chief Keefe, Barry Finegold, and Tram Nugyen who have made this a priority from day one, and worked with us to chart a course for both immediate improvements and long term change.
We’ve made progress these past four weeks, but we have a long way to go.
As we embark on that journey, I encourage us to remember the spirit of the girl who sparked the interest in this colorful night. Sid spent a year planning a purple birthday party, and a week before she came to me and said “I want my birthday to be rainbow because it includes all the favorite colors of my friends and family.”
Her spirit is one of collaboration, creativity, and inclusion. So, whether you’re here to advocate for pedestrians… or drivers… or the work of the town and state… our only ask is that we use this horrible incident as a moment to come together, not tear each other apart.
I think we can all agree that no one should die in a crosswalk.
Yet, there have been three similar incidents in the last 18 months on Elm St alone. Two fatalities, one very serious injury. Andover is thriving, but the slow pace of progress on pedestrian and bicycle safety means we risk our community members dying.
The good news is other communities have solved these problems. If we work together, we can do better.
Sidney was a soft-spoken and smiley girl with springy curls. Like many in our family-filled downtown neighborhood, she navigated these roads daily.
We walked to school at Shed Children’s Campus. We rode scooters to Andover Center Playground, danced to music in the park, and met friends at JP Licks. Saturdays, we had breakfast at Perry’s Plate. On chilly winter afternoons, we’d get hot chocolate at Cafe Nero and huddle up at the library, which stands just feet from the crash.
Andover’s bustling downtown is as attractive to families as it is unique in the Merrimack Valley. It’s a big reason we moved here seven years ago. Businesses are thriving, and our population has grown from 25,000, when downtown roads were redesigned in 2005, to around 37,000 today.
Recently, there has been some progress in safety. As an avid cyclist and runner, I applaud the town-wide 25 mph speed limit, the effort to calm traffic on Elm St, and the Elm Square Road Safety Audit.
Yet, the pace of change in road usage far exceeds that of pedestrian safety improvements.
Crashes in Andover are up 30% over the past 10 years, according to MassDOT data. Statewide, pedestrian fatalities exceeded 100 last year, up 35% from 2021. Despite global advances in protecting vulnerable road users, we’re going backwards.
That data doesn’t include the near misses. We see them every day in our neighborhood.
Large trucks encroach on intersections, unable to see pedestrians, particularly small children.
Cars following Waze to avoid traffic speed down residential streets as middle school children make their way to the building we’re in right now.
Distracted drivers on phones swerve on crowded streets.
At Elm St, vehicles take left and right turns through crosswalks while pedestrians see “walk” signs.
These are problems communities have solved. Having lived in Boulder, Colorado and Europe, my wife and I have seen it first hand. The safest are committed to zero-fatality standards. They’re working collaboratively to hold drivers accountable and designing roads with more space for walking and cycling, and less space for dangerously large vehicles. In the safest towns, large trucks don’t mix with pedestrians. Full stop.
After weeks of research and advice from experts, our group has three commonsense recommendations for this panel:
First, let’s commit to zero fatalities and serious injuries with a standard like Vision Zero as part of Andover’s 5-year Complete Streets Policy.
Second, let’s expand this project to include all of downtown, and assemble a working group to learn and collaborate, including citizens, engineers, experts, MassDOT, town officials, and advocacy groups like WalkBike Andover.
Finally, and most urgently, let’s make the simple and obvious changes we can now. Jaimie is going to go much deeper on these, but in summary:
Make common sense changes to Elm Square crosswalks, starting with moving vehicle stop lines back at least four feet from crosswalks, which is the DoT standard - and adjusting light timing to avoid pedestrians in crosswalks when cars are free to pass through them.
Post police details to help pedestrians navigate tricky intersections.
Use traffic calming and awareness to reduce speeds on Elm, High, and Central streets
There is no action that will bring back our daughter, but we hope this terrible incident can bring us together to create safer streets.
My hope is that we can be both data-driven AND urgent. I’m an executive in a business, and one thing I see my team do is let great be the enemy of good. This intersection has been a known issue for years. In fact a year ago at a forum like this on sidewalks, it was flagged 10 times. Let’s do the right thing for the long term, but please listen to the people here today who live here and do the sensible things now to prevent another horrible incident.
We’ve created a group of Andover families, called Sidney’s Rainbows, who are eager to partner with the town, state, and advocacy groups to drive that change. I’d like you all to hear from them now.
