Earlier this spring, MVPC Transportation and GIS staff worked together to develop a Draft List of the Top 100 Intersection Crash Locations for the 15 cities and towns in the MVPC region. This list is based on MassDOT cash data for the years 2018-2020.
Why this List was Developed
Over the years, MVPC staff has used information contained in MassDOT’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Crash Cluster List for intersections to identify high crash intersection locations in the region. This list identifies the top 5% of intersections – approximately 60-65 locations in the region – based on selection and evaluation criteria developed by MassDOT. These intersections are eligible to receive funding for improvements through the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program.
MVPC has prepared its Top 100 Intersection Crash Locations List to supplement MassDOT’s Crash Cluster analysis. It accomplishes this in many ways. First, the MVPC list includes more intersections in the region than the MassDOT Crash Cluster analysis considers. The MVPC’s list for the years 2018-2020 identifies over 1,900 intersections in the region where there was at least one crash reported and tracks data at many more intersections. In contrast, MassDOT’s Intersection Crash Cluster list tracks crashes that occur in 1,236 intersections in the Merrimack Valley region.
The MVPC list also evaluates crashes in a slightly different manner, assigning more points to crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries than for those where there are less severe or only suspected injuries reported.
Most importantly, with the development of this list, more intersections in the region could become eligible to receive HSIP funding for roadway improvements.
How this List was Created
The primary source of data will be the MassDOT crash database, which is based on the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicle Crash Data System.
Each crash record in that database contains a wealth of information about each crash such as age of the persons involved, time of day, severity of any injuries, weather conditions, time of day and much more. MVPC GIS staff used the location data contained in each record to assign crashes to the Intersections in the 15 cities and towns in the Merrimack Valley region. Intersections were defined by MVPC using a 25-meter buffer around where two roads intersect.
How this List is Being Used
MVPC staff used this list in combination with MassDOT’s Intersection Crash Cluster List for the years 2017-2019, requests received from communities, and other factors, in selecting the intersections that will be studied by the Merrimack Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization in Federal Fiscal Year 2023. These are:
- Franklin Street @ Common Street in Lawrence
- Main Street @ the I-95 Connector in Salisbury
- Lowell Street at Elm Street in Methuen
Why this is Called a ‘Draft List’?
That is because some of the information contained in the crash data for 2020 has yet to be finalized by MassDOT and may change in the near future.
Coming Up Next
- Updating the list to include data for the years 2019-2021;
- Develop a list of High Crash roadway segments that will be evaluated in a similar manner.
For more information about this and other Transportation initiatives at MVPC, check out our transportation program page.