Road killer

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

They are young and old, male and female, black and white. And all of them were just trying to get where they were going.
When it comes to pedestrian accident victims, it seems that Roosevelt Boulevard doesn’t discriminate.
Since Sept. 3, seven pedestrians have been struck at various spots along the increasingly treacherous roadway. Four have died.
With the latest victim now recovering in Frankford Hospital-Torresdale, local and state officials are searching for ways to make the road safer.
State Rep. George Kenney (R-170th dist.) is introducing legislation to target speeders along the Boulevard. It would enlist the same technology used in the red-light cameras that have been erected on the highway at Red Lion Road, Grant Avenue and Cottman Avenue.
Under Kenney’s proposal, speeding drivers would be fined as much as $500. The money would be used to fund the construction of pedestrian bridges at different intersections along the Boulevard. Kenney was expected to announce his bill this week.
"The number of pedestrians injured and killed crossing Roosevelt Boulevard is staggering and unacceptable," the lawmaker said. "We’ve been able to stem the rampant red-light running at three of our busiest intersections by using cameras. We must now adapt the same technology to protect more lives."
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials have estimated a construction cost of $5 million per pedestrian bridge.
Ron Henevy, 64, is the latest victim in the recent string of pedestrian accidents. He was hit by a car on Oct. 17 at about 11:30 p.m. while attempting to cross the westbound lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard at Plaza Drive, near Haldeman Avenue. The driver did not stop.
The night before, Shawna Cleary, 15, suffered critical injuries after being struck by another hit-and-run driver as she tried to cross the inner northbound lanes of the Boulevard above Rhawn Street. She died at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children the following night.
Police are still seeking the drivers in both cases.
"It’s terrible that these things have to happen, and we and the city have been working together to do what we can," said Jenny Robinson, safety spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The 12.5-mile-long thoroughfare bisects Northeast Philadelphia, between the Bensalem/Philadelphia border on the north and Ninth Street on the south.
Between 2000 and 2005, there were a total of 157 crashes on the Boulevard involving pedestrians, according to PennDOT statistics.
Twenty were fatal. Eight occurred at intersections, eight others were at random unmarked crossings, and four occurred at established and marked mid-block crosswalks.
"According to our stats, the most serious pedestrian safety concerns would occur at signalized intersections or be related to jaywalking," Robinson said. "Mid-block crosswalks are actually the safest places to cross the Boulevard because the pedestrian can cross one section at a time, then wait at a median until it is safe to cross the next section. At intersections, the pedestrian has to attempt to go all the way across at once, and the traffic-signal green phase wouldn’t be long enough for that."
City Controller Alan Butkovitz thinks the number and nature of the crosswalks need to be examined. He submitted a six-point proposal to PennDOT in March calling for the removal of mid-block crosswalks, among other suggestions.
"The city and state have to act like (the issue) is important. Anything that gives attention to it is important," Butkovitz said.
He suggests high fines — both for jaywalking and speeding — along the Boulevard. He hopes working groups will be formed to examine the issue. So far, the Delaware Valley Planning Commission intends to undertake a study of the roadway’s safety.
Last Thursday, City Council members introduced a resolution to hold hearings investigating the safety of Roosevelt Boulevard. Northeast Council members Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.) and Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) were co-sponsors.
"The mayor tomorrow should put up barricades to prevent crossing at the middle six lanes," O’Neill said.
Ultimately, the councilman hopes to see inner lanes at several areas of the Boulevard re-established below grade, similar to the intersection at Cottman Avenue.
"You should not have twelve lanes of traffic to cross," O’Neill said.
Presently, there are only two pedestrian overpasses on the Boulevard — at Oxford Circle and at Pennypack Circle. The office of Mayor John Street did not return a call seeking comment on O’Neill’s safety suggestions.
Last Thursday, pedestrians crossing the Boulevard at Rhawn Street said they stay wary of cars on the chaotic thoroughfare. "I’m real careful," said Northeast resident Patrick Cosgrove. "Even when the light goes red, they don’t stop."
"The Boulevard is very dangerous. There’s times crossing the street when people making turns cut me off," said Kyle Wright.
He often sees other people carelessly darting across the roadway.
"Every day and every night I see a bunch of kids not paying attention," he said.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, which advocates for cyclist and pedestrian safety, said in a statement that "a persistent campaign with the ultimate goal of reducing crashes on the Boulevard is needed using engineering, education, enforcement and evaluation."
Last week, with the aid of state Sen. Mike Stack (D-5th dist.), the Philadelphia Police Department received a renewal of $250,000 in funding from PennDOT for its Roosevelt Boulevard Accident Reduction Initiative, a program started in 2002 to bring a heightened police presence to the highway. The program funds police patrols along Roosevelt Boulevard from Ninth Street to the Bucks County line. More than $1 million has been secured for the initiative.
"It’s a great program," Stack said. "The city should really have funding in any event. I’m happy (the state) can provide it."
Ironically, a lapse in that funding from early September to last Thursday — the time period when all of the recent pedestrian accidents occurred — has prevented the Boulevard patrols in recent weeks. PennDOT officials said the gap occurred because of a delay in processing paperwork necessary for the grant.
"I can’t say whether or not the crashes were related to that. Obviously, enforcement helps," said Robinson, the spokeswoman.
Capt. Al Martin, commander of the 7th Police District, says the Boulevard patrols have decreased serious accidents. In the program’s first two years, the number of fatalities fell from 21 in 2001 to nine in 2002 and seven in 2003, according to statistics.
"It’s an aberration. Each one you can pinpoint the cause," Martin said of the brief span in which the current pedestrian incidents occurred.
With the program money now in place, the patrols have resumed. Police issued 17 tickets and made 13 live stops of vehicles in the first day the funding was restored, according to records. Martin said his officers respond to about 300 accidents district-wide every 28 days.
As long-term plans to increase the Boulevard’s safety are considered, the police will focus on nabbing the two hit-and-run drivers responsible for last week’s crashes that resulted in Cleary’s death and severe injuries for Henevy.
Kenney currently has a bill in the state legislature to increase the minimum jail time for hit-and-run drivers. He introduced the proposal in 2005, after Somerton resident Peter Roberto Jr., 12, was killed while trying to cross Harbison Avenue at Comly Road in Wissinoming on Thanksgiving Day 2004. The motorist subsequently surrendered and was sentenced to a prison term.
"It’s a huge problem," Kenney said of pedestrian accidents, "and these things shouldn’t be happening." ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com