Two Blue Hills Reservation roads set to close on weekends to curb drag racing

Pilot program set to close two busy streets on weekends through the rest of the summer following speeding and drag racing concerns.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation will be launching a pilot program that will close Wampatuck and Chickatawbut Roads from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Sunday.

The pilot program is set to start in late July and runs through at least September 1st.

“As for as, is it drag racing? Is it partying, is it individuals going too fast on the roads, it’s all of the above,” Jason Santos with DCR explained during a public online presentation Wednesday night.

Frustrated residents who were invited to speak up during the meeting say the streets that cut through the Blue Hills Reservation have become a late-night raceway over the years.

The quality-of-life issues many are flagging include the excessive speeding, reckless driving, illegally modified vehicles and all of the noise coming from the louder than every engines.

“I hear the traffic constantly at night,” resident, Karl Becker said.

“This absolutely has to happen,” resident, Jennifer Brodbeck added.

DCR explaining that after working with state police, it was discovered most of these issues are happening during the weekend hours.

Signage will soon go up to inform people of the weekend closures.

The area will still be open to hikers, walkers, bicyclists and emergency vehicles.

“It’s been tough to have Blue Hills right in our backyards and it feels really inaccessible for people on bike and on foot,” another resident, Ryan Fawcet, said.

The timeline shown in the meeting ended with automated MassDOT gates in place.

Though most can agree there is a serious cause for concern, some believe it is too soon to bring in a pilot program like this.

“This is a drastic move,” Representative Richard Wells said in the meeting before explaining his concerns about hospital access and public safety.

Senators John Keenan and Bruce Ayers also spoke in the meeting to share they have been hearing from concerned residents.

Ayers, sharing this statement with Boston 25 news.

“This proposal reflects months of collaboration between state and local officials, public safety agencies, and neighborhood residents,” said Representative Ayers.

“Our goal has always been to develop a balanced, data-driven solution that improves public safety without unnecessarily restricting access to the Blue Hills Reservation. The data clearly shows these dangerous activities occur primarily during overnight weekend hours, making a targeted closure a reasonable approach that deserves careful consideration,” he said.

However, some residents on the call joined Wells, pushing for other safety measures first.

“Putting it over the weekend especially during daytime hours, that’s a bummer,” Becker said.

“Why can’t you guys put six speed bumps right before this hill so it’s physically impossible for a vehicle to come down at speed?,” resident Conor Power suggested.

DCR says it will be tracking the impact of the weekend closure onthe surrounding areas to make sure travel times aren’t too affected.

Officials with DCR are also explaining this pilot program will save already endangered species in the area, specifically species of snakes.

“They are very endangered, snakes don’t know what the gates mean, that’s obviously not the intent but it’s when they are crossing the road, or it is mating season and they are attracted to the heat of the road, there is quite a history of the snakes being struck and killed on the road,” Eric Seaborn, with DCR, explained.

The public is asked to share their opinion and feedback of the program through the pilot program through a QR code that leads to this state page.

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