City Hall plans to work quickly to make city streets safer following two pedestrian fatalities in just over a week, Mayor Avula announced Monday.
Why it matters: Within 24 hours of his announcement, a third pedestrian was killed walking in Richmond.
State of play: On Tuesday afternoon, the driver of a dump truck hit a man in his 60s who was in a crosswalk at Harrison and Leigh streets near Carver Elementary, WTVR reports. He later died at the hospital.
- He was the 15th pedestrian killed in Richmond in the past year, and died just days after a woman died in a hit-and-run on Semmes Avenue.
- Valentine museum director Bill Martin was killed in a crosswalk on Broad Street on Dec. 27.
What they’re saying: “I urge every driver: slow down, put your phone away. We cannot accept traffic deaths as normal,” Avula said in a statement Monday.
- Avula said he asked his team to “identify urgent opportunities” to make South Richmond streets safer.
- He also tasked Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald with taking “immediate actions” to improve the Broad and 10th intersection downtown, where Martin was killed.
- Longer-term infrastructure improvements, like curb extensions and protected bike lanes, are in the works through the city’s Vision Zero plan, he added.
Stunning stat: Intersections are particularly dangerous in Richmond, accounting for 82% of all fatal and serious injury crashes in the city since 2017, according to the Department of Public Works…