The Springfield City Council has asked staff to act promptly to improve safety on Main Street following a vehicle incident last month that killed three children.
The children, ages 4, 5 and 8, were in the crosswalk at Main and 54th on February 22nd when a pick-up driver struck and killed them. The children’s mother, also struck, is recovering. The incident is under investigation.
In the past decade, 14 people have died on the wide corridor in collisions involving a mix of pedestrians, motorists and bicyclists:
(Grimaldi) “The goal is to get that to zero.”
Springfield City Manager Gino Grimaldi. Monday night he joined the City Council and about 20 citizens at a work session to consider measures to make that happen. Police enforcement on Main Street has been increased. Grimaldi says this is the first of several actions already planned, including public education measures:
(Grimaldi) “Some of the engineering solutions take a little longer, but there are some things we can get on very, very soon.”
These include constructing pedestrian safety crossings with flashing yellow lights, getting ODOT to approve lower speed limits and designation of the street as a safety corridor.
