The city hopes to make safety improvements at the intersection, a frequent site of car crashes.

If you get nervous every time you pass through the intersection of Main and South streets, you might be onto something.

The intersection was the site of 26 motor vehicle accidents and two pedestrian accidents in 2018, according to the Medford Police Department.

“I would say that’s one of the more frequent crash sites,” said Medford Police Sergeant Charles Hartnett.

City officials have taken note of the unpopular intersection and hope to make it easier for pedestrians, automobiles and cyclists to traverse it. The City Council plans to have a Committee of the Whole – date to be determined – with representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to discuss the intersection. Since the intersection is within the jurisdiction of MassDOT, any changes will need to be negotiated with the state agency.

“That intersection, that roadway, it’s a game of chicken,” Councilor George Scarpelli said at the Jan. 8 City Council meeting. “I personally see that you’re taking your life in your own hands going across. It’s very dangerous.”

The city administration is eyeing the broader “Main Street corridor” for safety improvements, according to Lauren DiLorenzo, Director of the Office of Community Development. While the Main Street/South Street intersection might be particularly problematic, coordinated traffic signals along Main Street from Medford Square to Mystic Avenue are desperately needed, DiLorenzo said.

“It’s not really safe and it’s not conducive to walking in Medford Square because of the flow of traffic,” she said of the Main Street corridor.

To improve safety in the area, the city has more than a few ideas to work with thanks to a study conducted in December by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (Boston MPO), which assessed many of the roadways surrounding Medford Square. The study recommends short and long-term adjustments along Main Street from Medford Square to Mystic Avenue, including at South Street, explained Medford Traffic Engineer Todd Blake.

“Most recommendations, if not all, will likely improve pedestrian safety either directly or indirectly,” Blake said.

According to the MPO study, the intersections of Main Street and the Route 16 on and off-ramp as well as Main Street and Mystic Avenue have more crashes than most other MassDOT District 4 unsignalized intersections. In particular, the accident rate for the intersection of Main Street and the recently-reopened Route 16 westbound ramp is twice as high as that of similar intersections managed by the state.

The study suggests several factors that contribute to the high number of accidents at these intersections, Blake noted.

“During peak periods, vehicles on Main Street northbound endure extensive delays and frequently force themselves into the intersection, which causes potential conflicts with prevailing traffic and sometimes gridlocks the intersection,” he said.

In addition, the limited traffic signals make pedestrian crossing difficult, and the lack of shoulders and bike lanes makes the area hazardous for cyclists as well.

Recent developments, however, have offered some relief, as the state repainted the crosswalk markings on Main Street and painted bicycle sharrows from Medford Square to South Street last spring as part of the Craddock Bridge project.

Nonetheless, the MPO study recommends that the city install markings at the crosswalk near the police station, create an on-street bike lane in place of the street parking in front of the police station and at other nearby locations, extend all sidewalks to six feet wide, and install traffic signals in the area.

Another recommendation in the MPO study for improving safety in the corridor could prove more controversial: closing the Route 16 westbound off-ramp onto Main Street. Inaccessible for more than three years as part of the Craddock Bridge construction project, the off-ramp finally reopened in November.

If the ramp were to close, the city might look into transforming it into a linear park that would connect to a broader trail system on the south side of the Mystic River. However, the city would not take such a step without determining the traffic impacts and financial costs of closing the ramp, said Alicia Hunt, director of Energy and Environment for the city.

“We’ve had some funds to do some preliminary looking at that,” Hunt said.

Although the city has not yet committed to specific safety or traffic changes in the Main Street corridor, DiLorenzo stressed that Main and South Street is “definitely a priority” for the city administration. She added that the city might look into state and federal funding as well as grants that could cover the costs of safety improvements.

“I think there are opportunities to come up with some funding for the roadways,” DiLorenzo said. “I think that is the mayor’s plan, to try to aggressively pursue state and federal resources for that."