Boston PIC Approves Sleeper Street Safety Redesign After Child's Fatal 2024 Crash

BOSTON -- April 10, 2025, Boston's Public Improvement Commission unanimously approved a safety overhaul of Sleeper Street in South Boston, a redesign prompted by the fatal pedestrian crash that killed a child near the Children's Museum in March 2024. Chair Yashar Franklin-Hodge presided over the April 10 meeting, at which the commission cleared 12 petitions and accepted minutes from the March 27 hearing. The Sleeper Street project, petitioned jointly by the Public Works and Transportation departments, converts the one-block corridor to one-way southbound traffic, widens sidewalks on both sides adjacent to the Children's Museum and Martin's Park, and installs raised crosswalks that design consultant Matt Goldie of HDR said "will work all the time for everyone" regardless of driver attention. The commission also renamed Wellington Hill Footway in Dorchester to David Loeb's Footway, with a representative for City Councillor Worrell noting that Loeb "was instrumental in advocating to restore the footpaths" before his death; hundreds of signatures supported the change. Three Western Avenue actions in Allston cleared the way for a Tishman Speyer and Harvard University Enterprise Research Campus cycle track and pedestrian infrastructure, while Northeastern University received approval for a steam main license under Huntington Avenue and Forsyth Street, conditioned on ADA ramp restorations at all affected intersections.