Loved Ones of Victim Hit By MBTA Bus at Forest Hills Demand Area Made Safer

Last updated on October 16, 2024

Residents, and loved ones of a man who died from injuries suffered after getting hit by an MBTA bus turning onto Washington Street at Forest Hills at Tower Street this past Saturday, are demanding that the state and city make changes to improve the safety of the area.

Glenn Inghram’s car was parked mere steps from the point of impact, and because his dogs were in the vehicle, his family thinks he was just running a quick errand, and was in the crosswalk. His injuries were so severe that the Boston Fire Department needed to remove him from under the bus, and homicide unit was brought in to investigate, according to a law firm representing the victim’s family. He was very close to his home on the corner of the Arborway.

Neighbors and friends created a petition to MassDOT, the MBTA and the Boston Transportation Department, “to address the dangerous and worsening infrastructure with great haste” in regards to the area.

The residents raised issues with the Hyde Park Avenue Multimodal Corridor project that is underway. They said the intersection of Tower Street, where the accident occurred, was left off the original outreach documentation.

In the short terms, the petitioners ask for seven shorter-term, temporary safety improvements:

1. Implement a full pedestrian walk signal separate from bus timing at the intersection of Tower Street and Washington Street/Hyde Park Avenue, ensuring no buses are turning while pedestrians are crossing;
2. Extend this pedestrian-only signal timing to the intersection of Arborway and Washington Street/Hyde Park Avenue – an intersection where cars and buses frequently disregard pedestrian crossing priority;
3. Install curb extensions to improve visibility and “daylight” the intersection of Tower Street and Washington Street/Hyde Park Avenue;
4. Install a stoplight at Weld Hill Street to provide an alternative pedestrian crossing route and reduce traffic funneling into the Tower Street intersection;
5. Reevaluate bus routing, potentially redirecting some buses to turn at the Arborway intersection instead of Tower Street;
6. Increase visibility around the bus exit at Tower Street by removing the landscaping / bushes obstructing the view of the intersection;
7. Place temporary flex posts to delineate pedestrian spaces and traffic lanes more clearly.