“I can’t run like I used to” Pedestrians to see more crosswalks coming to Dickerson Pike
Metro Council passed a resolution that approved a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to provide funding for improvements to pedestrian safety.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Nashville is now one step closer to making one of the city’s deadliest roads a little bit safer.
Every time Constance Beach crosses Dickerson Pike, she says she’s taking a risk.
“I can’t run like I used to, but I try to do the best I can to get across that street before they hit me,” Beach said.
She walks to get groceries from her apartment and says there aren’t convenient places for her to cross. She has to walk through parking lots to avoid the road.
“You go this way, no sidewalks go that way. There’s a half a sidewalk, and then it breaks off. So you really need somebody to help you out. They need to get down here and do something,” Beach said, “If they get more crosswalks, we’ll feel safer.”
Luckily, they are doing something. On Tuesday, Metro Council approved funding for more crosswalks with pedestrian beacons and better marked walking paths. Last month it also approved lowering the speed limits by five miles per hour.
“This is definitely one of the most dangerous roads in Nashville,” Carson Rae-Ellis, who works near Dickerson Pike, said.
Rae-Ellis says crossing beacons are going to make a huge difference to drivers.
“They don’t respect any of them, except for this one, because it has a red light. The rest of them, they honk at you like you’re doing something wrong,” Rae-Ellis said.
The city is targeting the area between Old Trinity Lane and Broadmoor Drive. It’s where they say four pedestrians have been killed in the past two years. They city hasn’t said exactly where the crosswalks will go or when they will be constructed.
This is all part of Nashville’s Vision Zero plan to eliminate all pedestrian deaths.
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