Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has unveiled a new plan to tackle speeding drivers in the city. The “Safety Surge” program will involve the installation of speed humps on up to 400 miles of city streets, with ten zones prioritised each year for the next three years based on crash history and resident demographics. The humps will be incorporated during road repaving, making it part of the routine revamping of the city’s streets. The program follows a successful initial rollout of the Slow Streets initiative, which saw speed humps added to three streets in an effort to determine whether communities liked them and if snow plows could navigate them. Between 25-30 Boston intersections will also be redesigned each year to eliminate poor visibility, confusing intersections and better segment different types of road users. The program will also include the updating of some traffic signals to prevent drivers from turning right on red at certain junctions.

The new program is a response to data that shows residents of colour are more likely to experience traffic-related fatalities. Wu said: “As more and more speeding cars race through our side streets, even front yards off the street are not completely safe for families and adults. We’ve had situations in Boston as recent as this past week when someone sitting on their porch has had cars jump the curb and go into their front yard.” Not all streets will be eligible for speed humps, including major thoroughfares or any road that has an MBTA bus route on it.

To find out which Boston streets are eligible and set to receive speed humps in the near future, click here.