As the traffic backs up Wednesday evening over the bridge to Boston's Charlestown neighborhood, the worry is only escalating.
The project to replace the North Washington Bridge has been delayed a year, frustrating Charlestown residents.
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"I think our children are not safe," Katy Fleming said.
Fleming would know.
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"It was my daughter who was almost killed last December," Fleming said Tuesday night during a public hearing held by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to discuss the project's delays.
According to MassDOT, the project was halted after investigators found what's known as "toe cracking" during construction. That led to a yearlong search for a fix. In the meantime, traffic has continued to pile up on the temporary bridge, built to continue to handle the flow of traffic while the old bridge was demolished and the new one built.
Fleming says more must be done to ensure everyone is safe on this temporary bridge after her daughter was almost hit by a car in December 2021.
"The light signal turned, she ran across, she had the walk," Fleming said. "[The vehicle] missed her and her friend by a couple of inches."
The new $177 million bridge, with dedicated bike lanes, was set to open in the Spring of 2023. A fix has been identified, according to MassDOT, and that work is now underway.
MassDOT adds it hopes to shift traffic to the new bridge by December 2023, and then have the entire bridge open by December 2024.
In the meantime, Fleming wants to ensure a safe commute for all.
"Unless they step up the security, something will absolutely happen," Fleming said.
