EASTHAMPTON — What began as an evening out on Cottage Street ended in a trip to the emergency room for Cherie Braun of Granby.
Last fall, Braun and her husband Charles Brown were struck by a car while crossing through the popular, yet dangerous hub. Though Brown walked away with minor injuries, Braun suffered a head injury after slamming into the car’s windshield, which has fueled her advocacy for a safer city.
At a recent City Council meeting, Braun called for changes to be made to the narrow road. Just after Braun spoke, plans were presented to show safety improvements that are in the works on the intersection Braun and her husband were struck.
“It seems extremely obvious to us that there is an issue there,” Braun said in an interview with the Gazette. “In Easthampton, there are people walking around, it’s a very vibrant evening community that people go there all the time and clearly it’s not safe.”
Braun recounted her experience at the City Council’s Jan. 21 meeting, with her husband in attendance.
The couple moved to Granby from North Carolina just two years ago, and have been trying out numerous restaurants in the area, Braun said in an interview with the Gazette. Having eaten at Nini’s Ristorante before, they visited again on Oct. 11. After finishing their meal, they crossed the street for a quick stop at the Union Mart.
Braun and Brown then made their way toward the Brass Cat before crossing the street back to the side they started on, when their night took a bad turn.
“We stepped off the curb, a car went past, we waited for that obviously,” Braun said at the council meeting. “The next car that was coming down was a fair distance away and it looked like he was slowing down so we stepped out into the street and when we got about into the middle of the lane, we both got hit by the car.”
The couple popped onto the hood of the car before the vehicle stopped, sending Braun to the ground and Brown onto one knee.
Braun was knocked unconscious and sustained a head injury, requiring an ambulance trip to Baystate Hospital to stitch a cut on her head. Braun told the Gazette she also sustained bruising on her left side but she and Brown were OK otherwise.
“A woman from one of the shops in the area came running out when she heard the noise I guess and she began doing triage, she was formerly an EMT,” Braun explained at the council meeting, recounting what her husband had told her since she was knocked unconscious. “Between my husband and her, she got me over to the side of the road.”
Braun said the driver stopped and was spoken to by police, and while the experience was negative, she was grateful for the response from first responders and the woman who stopped to help.
“The EMT’s did a fantastic job, whether they were professional, friendly, helpful, and I got a collar on and they took me to Baystate,” she said.
Easthampton Police Chief Chad Alexander said based on witness reports, the operator of the vehicle was not speeding. The driver told police that they could not see Braun and Brown in the road due to oncoming headlights affecting their vision, and no arrests were made.
“It’s always been an issue,” Alexander said about safety on Cottage Street, having been born and raised in Easthampton. “It’s a very narrow street, it’s hard to navigate. We haven’t seen anything new, it’s been a problem my whole lifetime.”
Alexander said pedestrian safety is a concern on Cottage Street. A woman was fatally struck by a vehicle in 2018 crossing the street. Alexander said there have also been many instances where cars clip or destroy the side mirrors of cars parked on the street.
Braun said she and Brown have several friends in Easthampton and they like to visit the city. While they were enjoying their evening before the accident, Braun said the crosswalk they were struck on and the narrow road as a whole is clearly dangerous and needs safety improvements.
Improvements on way
Also at the Jan. 21 council meeting, Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Greg Nuttelman gave a presentation showing planned safety improvements to Cottage Street shortly after Braun spoke. The plans have been in place prior to the Oct. 11 accident, planned to be funded by $100,000 from the state Department of Transportation, that was secured in 2025 by now-former state Rep. Dan Carey, D-Easthampton.
In an email to the Gazette, Nuttelman said plans are still in the design phase, but they currently include adding rectangular rapid flashing beacons, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant warning pads and ramps at the crosswalk where Braun and Brown were struck. Additionally, repairs are planned for the cracking pavement at the brick crosswalk in front of the Marigold Theater, with curb bump-outs that would narrow the street at that section.
“That is something that has been on our radar for a while and something we have been working to make safer for everybody,” Nuttelman said at the council meeting. “That crossing is challenging with the line of sight from the building being right on the edge there.”
Nuttelman said he expects construction to begin in early summer, but emphasized in an email to the Gazette that plans are still in the design phase and are subject to change.
City Council President Koni Denham said she was contacted by Braun and Brown after the accident, wanting to speak at a council meeting. Denham said she contacted Nuttelman and the two arranged for the update of the safety improvements.
“Cottage Street has experienced some tragedies and the city is working diligently to address those,” Denham said in an interview with the Gazette. “They’ve been working to get funds to be able to increase pedestrian safety and also just making decisions to manage speed on the street.”
Denham said she suspects that the City Council Public Safety Subcommittee is going to have future discussions about safety on Cottage Street, and the council wants to be as communicative and transparent getting updates to the public.
Mayor Salem Derby acknowledged that Cottage Street safety has been a long-standing issue. He emphasized that addressing concerns requires a collaborative effort between multiple city departments — the Planning Department and DPW help envision and bring improvements to life, while the police handles traffic enforcement.
“This is something that is critically important, it’s something that has been on my radar for a long time,” Derby said, who previously served on the City Council Public Safety Subcommittee.
Derby said Cottage Street has multiple dangerous sections, specifically the area next to the Brass Cat and the curve where the street connects with Route 141.
Derby said he and Nuttelman have been exploring all options from bumping out the curbs aiming to reduce driver speeds, to flashing beacon lights and rumble strips. While safety improvements are in the works, he said drivers and pedestrians have a responsibility to be cautious.
“People are driving too fast on Cottage Street,” Derby said. “We can do all the traffic mitigation practices but people can still drive dangerously. There’s some level of responsibility that people have to take.”