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Health & Fitness

Safety on Sprague Street Bridge

Everyone worried about Sprague Street Bridge safety, but a vital piece was missed and snow stayed on the sidewalk.

Safety: that was the objective.

For the pedestrian, however, last winter especially dangerous on the bridge.

For years the state and Dedham and Readville the section of Boston had watched the Sprague Street deteriorate. Finally all parties acted. It was 2008 when the work was done.

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But when the final piece of making the bridge a safe spot, it was not. At least not in 2010-2011.

Had nothing to do with the complicated construction or the new signals that were eventually installed or with the second bridge that the construction company had to build so people could still walk from the Readville Station into the industrial section or the heavy duty materials that were needed to carry the big trucks in and out of this busy area.

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All those pieces worked well. Safety was handled admiralty.

What failed was the smallest piece: somebody forgot to shovel the sidewalks.

There were massive trucks clearing tons of snow from the truck and car movement. A big truck had no troubles with the Sprague Street Bridge. Neither did cars.

Walkers had to trench the edges of the car and truck tracks. Nothing was removed from the sidewalks. That lasted at least a month. There was nothing left to do but for the pedestrians to dodge the vehicles. They got to Readville Station and if they worked over on the Dedham side of the industrial complex, they had to walk.

No other option was available.

Is that really such a big deal?

Yes.

Anyone injured while trying to avoid traffic in the roadway would, necessarily, have the city, town and state to sue. And any court would find the city, town or state liable.

Someone was responsible and ought to have the snow off the sidewalks as quickly as possible. It didn’t happen.

By next winter, it ought to all be settled.

What happened is the officials in the area did not nail down where the sidewalk duty on Sprague Street Bridge.

After years of making certain that all safety factors had been carefully mapped out, the final bit of peril somehow slipped out of the package and threatened the most vulnerable – the pedestrians.

Of course this past winter was the worst in decades.

Yes, it was, but that is all the more reason someone clears the sidewalks for the people who must get to work.

Their safety is paramount.

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