A fatal reminder of road's dangers

Last week's deaths of two Waltham residents on Nonantum Road came as no surprise to Gregory Picariello. The 24-year-old Newton man has his own story to tell about the treacherous roadway alongside the Charles River.

Picariello was driving eastbound on Nonantum with his girlfriend one afternoon almost exactly five years ago when they collided with a sedan carrying four women from Canada.

He said the other driver had apparently become impatient sitting in a line of cars on Nonantum waiting to turn left for the climb up Charlesbank Road. She tried jumping the line by scooting into the oncoming lane, but instead her Acura smacked into Picariello's Eagle Talon at nearly 40 miles per hour. He said he was traveling at between 30 and 40 miles per hour and had no time to brake. Picariello said he was lucky. His foot, lodged in the driver's well, twisted 180 degrees, snapping the bones. After surgery and months off his feet, he now has a metal rod in his leg, but is at least able to walk. His now-former girlfriend sustained a back injury and some bruises.

It took the jaws of life to pry open the Acura. Two of the women were relatively unscathed, but one is now a paraplegic, the other in ''pretty bad shape," Picariello said.

The dangers of Nonantum Road -- which runs east from Galen Street near Watertown Square to Soldiers Field Road in Brighton -- are no secret to local residents. They have been complaining for years that the lanes are too narrow and the speed limit too high.

''I knew it was only a matter of time," state Representative Peter Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat, said of the crash. ''People are easily driving 50 to 60 miles per hour in that area. It's like a small highway. This is a horrible road."

The accident occurred at about 1:30 a.m. Monday when a minivan rolled over and crashed into a light pole. Police said Youngmi Lee, 44, was driving westbound when she lost control of the car. She and her passenger, Hyong Kim, 49, died in the crash.

''Speed was definitely a factor," said Lieutenant Eric Anderson, a State Police spokesman. Citing the road's ''very narrow lanes" and heavy traffic, Anderson said he is surprised there aren't more accidents on Nonantum.

Last summer, Koutoujian, state Representative Rachel Kaprielian of Watertown and state Representative Kay Khan of Newton persuaded the Legislature to approve a $40,000 safety study of the road.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the road, confirmed the day after the crash that it had hired Burlington-based consultant Fay, Spofford & Thorndike to conduct a study focusing on the stretch from Charlesbank to Maple Street. A report is due by the end of June, said Vanessa Gulati, a department spokeswoman.