ASHEVILLE, N.C. — State Department of Transportation leaders are joining hands with the City of Asheville to improve a busy crosswalk where a pedestrian was hit and killed last month.
Since the fatal incident at the intersection of Merrimon and Coleman Avenues, DOT crews have repainted the crosswalk lines to make it more visible for drivers.
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, it was announced that DOT crews will begin construction of a traffic light, hopefully this summer.
DOT traffic engineers say this is currently a high visibility crosswalk, but after the planned improvements it will be a fully-functioning traffic signal and pedestrian phasing crosswalk.
Faded crosswalk lines were repainted after the fatal crash on Jan. 8 that claimed the life of 67-year-old Yvonne Lewis. She was hit by a driver while attempting to cross the road.
Community members rallied for change to improve the busy intersection, they say is unsafe.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting the announcement, the City of Asheville will work with the state on this improvement to enhance the crosswalk.
Local leaders say community concern spearheaded the change.
“Because the concerned citizens in the neighborhood spoke up and came out and showed that this was a real problem in the neighborhood, that galvanized public opinion and it also showed that ordinary people speaking up can make a difference as well too,” Chris Pelly on Asheville City Council said.
DOT officials say a pedestrian safety study is set to take place soon. The goal of the study is to determine ways to improve streets and sidewalks in the City of Asheville.
Post time: Oct-07-2017