After death of student, here's what UC and the city are doing for pedestrians
Cameron Knight
The University of Cincinnati and the city of Cincinnati have announced steps to improve pedestrian safety around the school and throughout the city after 18-year-old student, Cayden Turner died in a crash.
Turner and another UC student were struck by a speeding car on Jefferson Avenue on Sept. 28. Police have arrested the juvenile driver who they say ran a red light in a stolen vehicle before colliding with the students in a crosswalk.
On Monday, UC president Neville Pinto said the school would add crossing guards at critical crosswalks. He said both UC police and Cincinnati police would have an increased presence around the school and more signs would be added to promote pedestrian safety.
Cincinnati has been working on a citywide effort to install curb extensions at crosswalks, adding speed cushions and other calming measures to roads with documented problems. Corryville is slated for curb extensions in the current round of construction.
This week, city council passed a plan to bring more of this work "in-house." Instead of going through the lengthy process of having outside contractors bid on this work, the Department of Transportation and Engineering will create a team dedicated to these construction projects.
Councilman Mark Jeffreys said this should save the city about $250,000 and speed up installations.
An analysis of pedestrian-related crashes in the city showed that some roads surrounding UC were among the worst in the city for the number of crashes.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol data indicated three major hotspots for crash density in the city:
- Calhoun and West McMillan street near UC.
- Liberty Street between Central Parkway and Walnut Street.
- Warsaw Avenue in the area of Grand and Elberon avenues.
The Calhoun and West McMillan area is the worst for pedestrian crashes out of the three.
There have been 103 such crashes since the beginning of 2017, according to records maintained by the highway patrol. That's about one every three weeks.
