Chinatown is a dense section of Boston. Local residents, students, hospital workers on-the-go.
“It’s not so easy, it’s always an adventure,” said Sarah Jung, who works in Chinatown.
Add cars, buses, ambulances, and highway access to the mix and it can be a dicey place to get around.
“It’s not very pedestrian-friendly and a lot of the cars I’ve noticed don’t necessarily follow the traffic laws,” said Jung.
The Boston Transportation Department announced Friday it’s been working on improvements to the Chinatown neighborhood to make it safer.
“Just have to be very sharp, keep looking right and left, left and right,” said Chinatown resident Mary Wong.
A focus of change is bustling Kneeland Street with new traffic signs, increasing time for pedestrians to cross the street, and retiming signals to improve traffic flow.
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Several Chinatown-based community groups have joined forces to pitch ideas and analyze what needs the most work.
“You have cars speeding, not paying attention, a lot of school-age children and elderly who walk quite slowly and need assistance, that’s a recipe for accidents,” said Angie Liou, executive director of the Asian Community Development Corporation.
This has been an ongoing project. Some of the changes have already been completed and more are on the way.
“Chinatown is a vibrant community and it is vital the neighborhood’s streets are both safe and functional,” said Boston Mayor Martin Walsh in a statement.
