16 year old Western High School student Adrienne White was crossing Cane Run Road outside of the crosswalk early yesterday morning and was hit by a motorist. [CJ]
That particular section of road is always busy, especially at 7 a.m.
On roads like these, lives could be saved by constructing overhead walkways to allow pedestrians to avoid traffic altogether.
A few hundred feet west at the intersection of Lees Lane, Rockford Lane and Cane Run Road lies Farnsley Middle School, a walking track and the historic Farnsley-Kaufman house, a local landmark. Western High is less than a mile away on Rockford Lane to the east.
I can't help but think the use of an overhead walkway would ensure- or at least increase- the safety of pedestrians, particularly the students that must cross the busy stretch of what is essentially a highway that links the Snyder Freeway to I-264.
I would like to hear your thoughts.
In the meantime, please teach your kids to use the crosswalks and wait for the walk signal before crossing the road.
It's just not worth your life to be on time.
My heart goes out to that girl's family. I'm not a fan of overhead crosswalks for a couple reasons. Mainly, when people are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, they need to harness control of said vehicle. Secondly, they encourage that gerbil-tube mentality that keeps people up and away from reality, i.e. outside. Finally, our city doesn't maintain the ones we have. There's one on the border of Old Louisville that goes over railroad tracks, and I tried it on a bicycle one day and barely got past the unkempt bushes that have been allowed to overtake the entrance.
ReplyDeleteI am curious what the family of that teenager thinks though.
I was mostly thinking of the ones in Vegas: Well maintained and attractive.
ReplyDeleteThe walkways, I mean...
Great idea! Our city has wasted a lot of money on a new arena that we really didn't need. Why not dump some hard earned tax dollars into overhead walkways that will actually benefit our community? They would provide safety for pedestrians and keep those early morning drivers from distractions in rush hour traffic. There are too many kids being left to fend for themselves on that walk to school, crossing busy roads to get there. Which brings me to a question for local government: Why are we running the morning school hour concurrent with the morning work commute rush hour anyway? It puts too many people on the road at one time. Can't we stagger the time for school to start to allow one influx of traffic to dwindle down before putting more traffic on the road? Just a thought. And to add to the safety of pedestrians, overhead walkways downtown would be great too! A lot of people have long walks to/from their place of employment to garages & parking lots. Let's think sensibility when it comes to our tax dollars in Metro Louisville!
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Dorothy Abshire
Valley Station