RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the City of Richmond have released their findings in a pedestrian safety study on the school’s campuses in the city.
The study comes after two students lost their lives in pedestrian crashes this year. One of the students killed was Shawn Soares, Richmond City Council voted Monday to dedicate the portion of West Main Street where he was killed by a driver just a few months ago.
On Thursday, May 4, Soares, 26-year-old VCU graduate student, was walking on the 300 block of West Main Street in Richmond when he was struck and killed after two drivers collided, sending one vehicle off the roadway.
Soares’ co-worker, Mary Rafferty, has been hoping for change to happen since his death.
“It’s really both a tragedy, as well as a mixture of policy failure, that Shawn lost his life,” Rafferty said.
Soares’ death came just a few months after 22-year-old VCU student Mahrohk Khan was struck and killed by a driver on West Main Street near North Laurel Street.
On Friday morning, VCU and the city released their finding and recommendations in a pedestrian safety study which took place at both of the university’s Richmond campuses. The study has been underway since Khan’s death in January.
Recommendations from the study include adding more “no turn on red” signs and speed tables, as well as upgrading crosswalks.
The director of Bike Walk RVA, Brantley Tyndall, said he was happy to hear about some of those recommendations.
“There’s nothing in there that’s revolutionary or experimental, the solutions that they are recommending are tried and true,” Tyndall said. “There are examples of them throughout the rest of the city.”
Some of the work began before the study was even complete, with the city already implementing speed tables on several streets, including West Main Street, and “no turn on red” signs at some campus intersections.
The study notes that, in areas where speed tables were installed, vehicle speed has been reduced by 50%.
“The traffic calming measures like speed humps and intersection treatments that make turning vehicles have to slow down much more drastically are going to be much more effective,” Tyndall said.
Rafferty added she hopes that when people see Shawn Soares’ name on West Main Street, that will also make a difference.
“Changing the name of the street is just step one in raising the visibility of the importance of keeping our streets safe for walkers and bikers — and not just for cars,” Rafferty said.
