Haverhill Council to Address Main Street Pedestrian Death, Traffic Light Concerns

The Haverhill Police Traffic Unit and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Section 2018 investigation after a man was struck by an SUV on Main Street. (Jay Saulnier photograph for WHAV News.)

Police investigated a stretch of Main Street after a pedestrian was struck by an SUV on Main Street in May 2018. (Jay Saulnier file photograph for WHAV News)

Click image for Haverhill City Council agenda.

Haverhill’s City Council is ready to take action in the wake of another pedestrian death on the city’s busy Main Street stretch. Council President John A. Michitson confirms the governing body plans to suspend their rules Tuesday night in order to discuss the Jan. 25 accident that killed pedestrian Charles Burrill just after 5 a.m.

Though the accident took place at the intersection of Main and Water Streets in the area known as White’s Corner, the Council intends to also discuss safety concerns on Main Street at the intersections of Summer and Winter Streets, Michitson said.

Tuesday’s planned discussion is the second time in four months the Council has put pedestrian safety in the area on its agenda. Last September, an 18-year-old and 24-year-old were hit within 10 minutes of each other on Main Street. One of the pedestrians suffered injuries serious enough that necessitated an emergency medflight to a Boston hospital. In May 2018, Haverhill resident Dennis Tuttle was killed while crossing Main Street near 18th Avenue.

In the wake of those events, the Council debated installing additional lighting at the intersection of Main Street and Fifth Avenue at the urging of Councilor Melinda E. Barrett. Barrett tells WHAV the upgrades are currently in progress, with crosswalk enhancements also planned.

A $2.8 million state-funded construction set to coordinate and modernize traffic signals at five of the city’s busiest intersections—all along Main Street—is ongoing.

WHAV plans to broadcast Tuesday night’s City Council meeting live starting at 7 p.m. from the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, room 202 of City Hall.