Why can’t we just enforce traffic laws and build basic pedestrian infrastructure? S Saunders, Western Blvd, and Wilmington are an urban planning abomination.
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Putting this here because these two streets have been the subject of my ire for ± 10 years now because they are unsafe…too fast on no pedestrian safety measures at all. I tried to get the City, who punted to the State to do something before someone got killed. Well, now someone has been killed.
“The Office of State Human Resources extends condolences to the family, friends and coworkers of Dr. Anne Hakenwerth, who died on Thursday after being struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian near her workplace at the Cooper Building in downtown Raleigh. Dr. Hakenwerth was an employee in the Division of Public Health’s epidemiology section at the Department of Health and Human Services.”
The Cooper Building is on McDowell St near Lane.
I’ve been asking for 25 MPH and/or bollards at every intersection. Campbell felt it necessary to install bollards in front of their doors which face oncoming Dawson St traffic. I don’t give two f&*^s how long it takes you to get through downtown in your car if 25 MPH is what it takes…this is BS BS BS.
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I won’t walk on these two streets if I can avoid it and if I’m standing at an intersection waiting to cross I always keep an eye on traffic not that it will do any good because there’s 0 chance of getting out of the way of a car coming at you at those speeds if they jump a curb within feet of you.
Dr Hankenwerth’s death is a tragedy and one that is easily avoidable for a government/society that doesn’t place vehicular convenience above the lives of its citizens.
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I usually stand back a good 10 feet. Resent my 2011 email to council warning them about unavoidable fatalities along these two streets, with some more acid. All but one council member has changed…maybe they at least bring it up with the State.
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Dr. Hakenwerths death is a tragedy.
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25 mph is what speed limits are in much of Manhattan and more than a hundred pedestrians there still die every year. It’s just physics — getting hit by a car going 25 mph isn’t really all that different than getting hit by one going 40. Both are WAY more force than is necessary to kill you.
If you want to protect pedestrians on these roads, actually protect them. With bollards, for one. And by turning these streets from one way to two way, and widening the lanes and installing a median in the process, like what’s going to be done on Blount and Person.
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Wait, is a median in the works for the Blount/Person project? I hadn’t heard of that.
Really? I’ll do the research for you.
Seems the relationship between speed and risk of fatality is exponential.
Also - New York City is among the safest cities for pedestrians in the country.
Nevermind - Its one of the safest in the world.
Take a guess where all the most dangerous cities for pedestrians are located…
A bit old but this report mentions Raleigh.
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Thanks Phil…I was about to call BS on the 25MPH vs 40MPH based on car collision damage alone…hadn’t seen fatality curves before though. Mind you Joe, I did also mention bollards, and in writing to Council mentioned the downstream corners of intersections such as is the case with Campbell.
Podcast/YouTube with Jeff Speck that addresses (among other topics) one-way street reversions - i.e., reverting one-way streets back to two way and all of the benefits this brings:
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I listened to this entire conversation. I could listen to this man all day. Maybe it’s because I agree with him on just about everything. 
It was worth my hour this evening.
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In light of the tragedy recently occurred on McDowell, and I don’t want to sound insensitive, but is anyone aware of a place we can express condolences and concern to DOT about this exact situation? Was she crossing the street when it happened? I can’t find much online about the incident.
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My own Department safety officer won’t even tell me. I am honestly not sure if she was jaywalking or if the State feels like they are culpable somehow or what. There certainly seems to be a gag order on discussing this. Regardless of the exact situation, it still raises the issue of speed on these two streets vs inadequate safety precautions for pedestrians and DOT and the City both need to hear frothy condolences. Even though these are State maintained roads, the City needs to start the discussion, and last time I spoke with them, they gave no indication they would be doing that. Red light cameras are not nearly enough. 25 MPH and bollards are still my highest and best.
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I heard about this but didn’t get all the details can you or @evan.j.bost share more? Where exactly did this happen, which crosswalk are we talking about?
Is this the person who was killed on the sidewalk, or was there another pedestrian that was struck?
I pasted the email I received from State HR about 12 posts up this thread.
“The Office of State Human Resources extends condolences to the family, friends and coworkers of Dr. Anne Hakenwerth, who died on Thursday after being struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian near her workplace at the Cooper Building in downtown Raleigh. Dr. Hakenwerth was an employee in the Division of Public Health’s epidemiology section at the Department of Health and Human Services.”
All we know for sure is somewhere on that block of McDowell between Jones and Lane, with the Cooper Building being closer to Lane.
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Thanks @Mark. I go down Edenton and make this right turn on to McDowell often and have always thought these two right-turn lanes are very dangerous. People on the inner right-turn lane almost never go in to the right-most lane, they do a wider right forcing the outer right turn lane person to veer outwards. Combine that with more pedestrians and I want to think this is a dangerous crosswalk.
We should work to alleviate this and remove all two-right/left lane situations in DTR.
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Indeed. I also very much dislike how the far left lane goes becomes a left turn only at Lane. It starts at Hargett and there is no indication until the last second. There are of course, other turn lanes downtown but this one leads to a ton of dangerous situations right as people are gunning it out of downtown. Even the google maps car got sucked in it seems like.
the biggest problem with that intersection in the afternoons is the parking garage traffic
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Not sure where else to post this, but it would be really really great if the city installed colorful/artsy signs all around downtown that simply remind drivers to slow down. It’s amazing how people drive downtown, not just on the freeway roads, but on all the pedestrian laden roads. Just crazy.
Caution! Pedestrian Zone.
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