Rebeca Oliveira
Child hit on Centre Street
PONDSIDE—Cabot Estate resident Jutta Adolph, 68, was hit by a car and suffered serious injuries around midday Sept. 10 as she was crossing Perkins Street, coming home from walking her miniature schnauzer, Oskar, at Jamaica Pond.
In a separate incident, a child who was hit on Centre Street on Sept. 14 sustained only minor injuries.
Adolph must cross Perkins Street to reach the Pond from her residence at Cabot Estate at 241 Perkins, but the closest marked pedestrian crosswalk is at Chestnut Street, about a quarter mile away. The nearest intersection, Perkins Street and Parkman Drive, has no crosswalk.
According to friend and Pondside neighbor Kevin Handly, Adolph suffered a broken pelvis, broken facial bones, broken skull, broken ribs and a subdural hematoma. She was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) for treatment and was discharged on the 16th, BWH officials confirmed.
The driver, according to witness statements collected by the Boston Police Department (BPD), was not doing anything wrong, and remained on the scene to talk to police, according to BPD officer and spokesperson Eddy Chrispin.
Parkman Drive has a free right onto Perkins Street—meaning drivers can bear right independant of the traffic light—so even if Cabot Estate residents “walked down to the light, because of the free right, they still have no proper crosswalk,” Julie Crockford, president of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, said.
“It’s a pretty tough area to deal with… it’s a challenge,” she added.
State Rep. Jeffrey Sanchéz told the Gazette in a phone interview that he has “been trying to get attention on [the lack of a safe pedestrian crossing] since last year,” adding that he has been talking with the residents of Cabot Estates and the DCR commissioner to “figure out an immediate or a long-term solution.”
“We have to work within the realities we’re in, to we make sure to address this public safety issue,” he said.
When asked by the Gazette whether DCR officials are looking at the intersection in the wake of the accident, DCR spokesperson Wendy Fox told the Gazette, ”We are not, but maybe we should.”
Crockford told the Gazette she had recommended DCR look at the Perkins Street intersection last year after hearing complaints about it from Cabot Estate residents at a meeting discussing other proposed pedestrian improvements on the Jamaicaway. [See related article]
Handly told the Gazette in an e-mail that residents of Cabot Estate are planning to circulate a petition for a safer crossing to the Pond.
Piney Handly, Kevin’s wife, told the Gazette in a phone interview that Adolph is hoping that her community will organize for more action. “Maybe it’ll have consequences,” Piney Handly said.
Child hit on Centre Street
In the early afternoon of Tues., Sept. 14, a 1-year-old child was struck and knocked down after running between two parked cars in front of Magda’s Hair Salon and Spa at 634 Centre St. while the child’s mother was inside. The child was taken to Children’s Hospital, where the child was treated for small cuts and bruises and released the same day, according to Chrispin.
As a result, several blocks of Centre Street were closed, and traffic was backed up in the area for over two hours on primary Election Day.
A 51A report was filed with the Department of Children and Families in order to investigate any potential neglect, Chrispin said.
The operator of the car reacted in a timely manner and was deemed not to be at fault, Chrispin added.
David Taber contributed to this article.