Editorial: Green light
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Pedestrian safety must be broad effort
The tragic death of 14-year-old Leslie Hill in April 2005 illuminated the danger pedestrians face when crossing heavily traveled Greenville Boulevard near E.B. Aycock Middle School. It prompted her friends to recommend a number of safety improvements to the N.C. Department of Transportation, several of which were recently accepted by the agency.
While that represents a positive development, danger is a constant companion for Greenville pedestrians because poor planning and reckless motorists have made the city's roadways treacherous to tread. It will take proactive policies, as well as the cooperation of drivers, to ensure that further tragedies do not visit the city's most traveled thoroughfares.
Leslie Hill's death more than two years ago mobilized a group of her friends to prevent such accidents in the future. They created a list of proposed changes and, following a 20-month review, the DOT has adopted three projects to bolster safety along that stretch of the thoroughfare.
These are improved signage warning of pedestrians, the installation of an island at the Fairview Way intersection and the construction of a sidewalk on Fairview. Money for those projects, about $98,000, will be raised by Leslie's friends and members of the community willing to help.
That effort should be commended, and the community should be proud to see its youth take an active role in addressing an area of public concern. What's more, their recommendations, when completed, should be the inspiration to address the larger issue of pedestrian safety across the city.
Motorists here are all too familiar with the congestion on area thoroughfares and the time it can take to traverse the city. This is due, in large measure, to a failure to plan for growth. By allowing development to dictate the landscape rather than setting forth a thoughtful planning blueprint early in the city's development, it helped create the traffic mess.
Other factors contribute. The city is a regional destination and hosts thousands of visitors each day. And the train crossings do not expedite travel. But better planning and the further development of mass transit options would help reduce traffic and could encourage pedestrians.
Additionally, those crossing the streets are not safe when those behind the wheel are reckless. Motorists here routinely drive without regard to other drivers, to say nothing of those who brave the roadways without the relative protection of a vehicle. Poor habits — such as talking on cell phones or using center turn lanes to merge — are routinely practiced without thought or repercussion.
Safety along city thoroughfares begins with drivers, who must employ patience, restraint and intellect while on the road. And the effort must extend to planning decisions, which can promote pedestrian traffic.
Leslie's friends worked hard to highlight this danger and recommend solutions. Greenville motorists can play a part, and should eagerly do so.
DOT finalizes Greenville Boulevard pedestrian study Tuesday, July 31, 2007
By Brock Letchworth, Daily Reflector
Better signs and a pedestrian island are among recommendations finalized recently by the state to improve safety on Greenville Boulevard near where a 14-year-old girl was killed in April 2005.
The N.C. Department of Transportation recently completed a 20-month review of alternatives presented by a group of Leslie Hill's friends. Funding for most of the changes, which will cost approximately $98,000, will be taken on by the group of teenagers that requested the safety review after Hill was killed.
Hill, an eighth-grader at E.B. Aycock Middle School, died after being hit by a car near Fairview Way while crossing Greenville Boulevard. She was crossing with two friends at 4:15 p.m. on a Monday. School was out that day for a teacher workday.
The Department of Transportation study also proposed the elimination of a school speed zone on Greenville Boulevard near E.B. Aycock and the removal of the pedestrian crosswalk near Brownlea Drive, according to the study.
The school speed zone is largely ignored, the study said, and pedestrian safety is a full-time concern on the stretch of highway. Hill was killed after school hours.
Improving signs that guide pedestrians and warn motorists of all foot traffic would more effectively improve safety, the study said.
Eliminating the crosswalk at Brownlea Drive is intended to funnel walkers to the remaining crosswalk at Fairview Way, where the teen safety advocates want a pedestrian refuge constructed between Greenville Boulevard's eastbound and westbound lanes. The island would give walkers a safe place to wait when caught in the roads busy traffic.
Transportation officials also recommended the construction of a sidewalk along Fairview Way and on both sides of Greenville Boulevard as funds become available.
Hill's friends have agreed to raise money for the work because state funding is dedicated to other projects, said Erika Eagle, the 16-year-old creator of the "Leslie Remembered" Internet site.
Eagle says the group she has helped spearhead can now focus more on fundraising with a plan in place.
"We spent the last two years pretty much waiting for them to tell us what we can do so we haven't been able to get any grants or anything like that," Eagle said. "We couldn't really do fundraisers either because we couldn't specifically tell people what we were raising money for. Now that we have that we're going to try to start getting different fundraisers going."
The group, which began working on the project about a week after Hill's accident, raised more than $2,000 through the Greater Greenville Foundation and several hundred dollars more by selling bracelets that honor Hill. Eagle says plans for a benefit concert are also in the works, and the group will pursue grants to help with costs.
Debbie Hill, mother of Leslie Hill, has been impressed with the efforts of her daughter's friends. "It's something that most teenagers wouldn't be doing at their age," Hill said. "They have just stepped up to the plate and been amazing beyond words. They never cease to amaze me with the things they want to do. What really warms my heart is it's all because of their friend. They're fighting hard not to let her memory die."
Eagle says the addition of a pedestrian refuge island on Greenville Boulevard would allow a memorial garden to be planted in honor of Hill while also giving those crossing the road a haven from passing traffic.
After accomplishing its goals on Greenville Boulevard, Eagle says the group will look into extending the Mill Run exercise trail to be named for Hill and establishing a pedestrian safety program in Hill's honor.
"I'm not going to say I was best friends with Leslie, but I was hurt and I saw how badly the accident hurt so many people," Eagle said.
"It's not something I would wish on my worst enemy and I don't want this to happen again knowing that I could have stopped it. All of us together want something done where people won't forget her because she's not the type of person you would want to forget."
Crossing project in the works Saturday, June 17, 2006
By Amanda Karr, The Daily Reflector
A project by local teens to make crossing Greenville Boulevard safer is moving slowly, but is still in the works. The teens have dedicated the project to the memory of their friend, a 14-year-old who died after being hit by a car last year Leslie Hill, an eight-grader at EB Aycock Middle School, died in April 2005 after being hit by a car near the intersection of Greenville Boulevard and Fairview Way. She was crossing the road with two friends on a day off from school. Shortly after her death, some classmates and friends joined together to push for installation of pedestrian safety measures on Greenville Boulevard where Hill was hit. The middle school's track borders the roadway. The group wanted a pedestrian overpass in the area and contacted the NC Department of Transportation about the project. Transportation officials warned the project could cost $1 million and require buying property on either side of the road. Last June, DOT agreed to conduct a study on safety measures that could feasibly be installed in the area. In August, they presented a preliminary set of options, including constructing a pedestrian island in the median, installing sidewalks to improve access to the traffic signal at 14th Street, installing flashing warning lights at crosswalks and changing school zone signs. "We're looking at several options. We looked at the bridge, but I think the sheer cost and magnitude makes it a little excessive for the amount. We're looking at options of channelization, revisions to signing in that area, pavement markings in that area and other ways of enhancing safety of pedestrians in that area," DOT traffic engineer Steve Hamilton said. Hamilton had originally said the final study, which would include data on the number of pedestrians who cross in the area, speed cars travel down the road and the numbers of cars that turn off or onto the road, would take an additional 60 days to complete. Ten months later, the study is not completed. "Every time I go get ready to dedicate more time on it something happens that is high priority that I have to get done now," Hamilton said. He said e still expects to finish the study. Erika Eagle, 15, one of Hill's friends who operates a Web site on the teenager's project, hope so. "We can't get any grants until we know exactly what we're doin, and we can't know exactly what we're doing until the study comes in," she said" "When (the DOT) tells me what's going on, we can say exactly what we're going to do, whether it be an overpass, which I highly doubt, a pedestrian controlled stoploght or a walkway in her name or a permanent memorial There are lots of things we could do, it just depends on what they'll let us do." The teens have raised more that $2,000 through the Greater Greenville Foundation and nearly $300 selling bracelets, Eagle said. They are planning other fundraisers, which may include a concert. "We want that to be our one really big thing because Leslie loved music and so do all of her friends," Eagle said. It's a long term project, but not one Eagle says she can forget. "My bus route goes by where all the flowers are (at Greenville Boulevard and Fairview way to memorialize Hill). It's one of the first things I see when I wake up. I think of her at least once a day. Rubber ducks, gummy bears, pink and purple... there's always something that reminds us of her," she said. "...We're not going to drop it. We know it's going to take a really long time. We're doing it for Leslie. We realize people are watching.. to see if these silly little teenagers can make something happen.. rather than just sitting on the couch watching TV."
Teens, DOT talk safety alternatives for corridor :: Monday, August 29, 2005
By Amanda Karr, The Daily Reflector
Department of Transportation officials and a group of teens pushing for pedestrian safety measures on Greenville Boulevard after the death of a 14-year-old girl there in April are looking at alternatives to a pedestrian overpass.
Leslie Hill, an eighth-grader at E.B. Aycock Middle School, died after being hit by a car near the intersection of Greenville Boulevard and Fairview Way. She was crossing the road with two friends on a day off from school.
Shortly after her death, a group of her classmates who worried about others, including E.B. Aycock students, who cross Greenville Boulevard where it parallels the back of the middle school, banded together. They decided as a way to memorialize their friend they would push to make the road safer for other pedestrians.
With their sights set on a pedestrian walkway that would run over the road, they went to the Department of Transportation.
Transportation officials, warning such a project would cost $1 million and require buying property on either side of the road, agreed in June to conduct a study on an overpass and other safety measures.
With part of that study done, transportation officials recently presented seven options, including an overpass, and discussed the pros and cons and cost of each.
"Although the crosswalk was a bit much, we came to realize some of the other options were a little more practical and just as good. Anything that promotes safety is what we want," said Taylor deGrasse, 14, a freshman at J.H. Rose High School.
Among the options still being discussed are constructing a pedestrian island in the median, adding sidewalks from Charles Boulevard to 14th Street where there are traffic signals and installing flashing warning lights at crosswalks. Changes could also be made in school zone signs.
Transportation officials still have more work to do before putting together a final report on recommendations, DOT traffic engineer Steve Hamilton said. Now that school has started, data will be gathered on the number of pedestrians who cross Greenville Boulevard in the area, the speeds cars travel down the road and the number of cars that turn off or onto the road.
Those numbers are key to determine the feasibility of options. Some safety measures, such as installing a pedestrian controlled traffic signal, require a certain level of pedestrian traffic to justify installation, he said.
While frustrated by the regulations, the teens are optimistic and say DOT officials have been very helpful.
"I got such an amazing feeling coming out of that meeting. The seriousness and support was overwhelming," deGrasse said of the meeting where she and others discussed the options with DOT officials.
In addition to DOT officials, the teens have found an ally in a retired professor. Greenville resident David Crean heard about the teens' project and volunteered his experience in grant writing and has been offering guidance and perspective.
"This is not going to happen tomorrow. It's probably going to take a couple years," he said of the project. "We're going to come up with something where Leslie will be remembered permanently in this city."
In addition to pedestrian safety measures on Greenville Boulevard, the teens are considering other memorial projects, including extending a walking trail and naming the extension after their friend. Another possibility they are working on is establishing a pedestrian safety program that would educate drivers and pedestrians as well as provide seed money for building projects that would focus on pedestrian safety.
"It's really wonderful to memorialize Leslie and do it in such a manner that will promote safety and help people walk. Pedestrian safety is what we're all about," deGrasse said.
Although specific goals haven't been ironed out, the teens are beginning the fund raising for the project and expect to need at least $500,000.
Tax-exempt donations can be made to The Greater Greenville Foundation, P.O. Box 20154, Greenville, NC 27858. "The Leslie Remembered Fund" should be written in the memo line of any checks made out to the foundation.
At a recent update meeting, teens also brainstormed other ideas for raising money from a concert to car washes.
"Now that the door is open, we're running through it," said Erika Eagle, 14, a freshman at J.H. Rose High School.
Safety for Leslie:: Monday August 22, 2005
Cary Wegner : WNCT-TV 9
There are no traces of the accident now...except for the loss her friends deal with everyday. They won't let Leslie Hills' death go unnoticed. "For such a horrible accident to happen to such a wonderful person it's such, I hate to say it, but bad luck." Taylor Degrasse and Erika Eagle don't want that bad luck to happen to anyone else. "We want to do this because we want to make Greenville a safer place; because if you remember back in the day when you walked up the hill in 18 feet of snow--you could walk to school and not worry about it."
But now...the girls say it is dangerous, especially at the intersection of Fairview and Greenville Blvd., where their friend was killed. So now, the two of them and about 2 -dozen others are trying to help make that intersection and two others safer. So in Leslie's memory they want to raise money for more sidewalks, warning lights and islands at intersections close to E.B. Aycock middle school. They also want to make a Leslie Hill memorial exercise trail and start a pedestrian safety program in hopes to educate students and pedestrians about crossing traffic.
The price tag for all of this.... about a half a million dollars." We're more than ready we've been thinking about this for months now." They also have the support of the DOT, but if the stuff is needed why do they still have to pay for it? Steve Hamilton says, "They don't. What happens is we are doing a study right now. Were in the middle of it." He says if the kids raise the money...it will bring the safety measures sooner. "From the start we knew we could do it because Leslie had so many friends and there's so many people willing to help."
Editorial: Not too late::Monday, June 27, 2005
The Daily Reflector
City and county elected leaders have apparently left to children the responsibility for acting in the wake of a Greenville tragedy. They need to listen up and get into this game.
Since 14-year-old Leslie Hill was struck by an automobile and killed along Greenville Boulevard in April, no local elected leaders of any stripe have done as much as ask a question about improving pedestrian safety along this or other area roadways. They haven't mentioned the issue in any meeting, addressed it in any forum, or even wrung their hands publicly with the rest of the community as it shudders with the anger and pain of a needless death.
Instead, a group of middle-schoolers has done the work for them.
Erika Eagle and Taylor deGrasse, both 14, were friends of Leslie's and fellow students at E.B. Aycock Middle School. Soon after the April 11 accident, they and others announced their intention to raise money for a pedestrian crosswalk over the boulevard at that location. As part of this effort, they met with the state Department of Transportation, which because of their efforts has now agreed to study pedestrian safety measures in Greenville.
This is exactly what should have happened. Pitt County is already known for its relatively high rate of traffic fatalities, and the city of Greenville is crisscrossed by major roadways that have become increasingly dangerous for pedestrians as the population has swelled in recent years. While it shouldn't take something as needless and sad as the death of a young person to prompt such action, it's a greater travesty to let the incident pass into memory without so much as an official glance.
While a pedestrian crosswalk at this or other locations might not be economically feasible � preliminary estimates put the cost for such an intervention at $500,000 to more than a million � other possibilities might not be out of the question. Consolidating crosswalks, installing pedestrian waiting areas in medians and increased lighting or signage are all other options, according to the highway department.
There are many ways our city and county leadership could say it's not their responsibility to help fix a situation like this one. And maybe by the letter they would be correct. But the best leadership is the kind that relentlessly advocates for its constituents, regardless of jurisdictional boundaries.
In this instance, city and county leaders have missed an opportunity to be proactive and lead an effort to improve this community. But it is not too late to take a lesson from the young friends of Leslie Hill and add the heft of their offices to this cause.
The community should expect and demand nothing less.
Perilous crossings::Sunday, June 26, 2005
By Amanda Karr, The Daily Reflector
Department of Transportation officials will conduct a study of pedestrian safety measures that could be installed on Greenville Boulevard near where a 14-year-old girl was killed in April.
District engineer Neil Lassiter said the office agreed to conduct a feasibility study after meeting with two 14-year-old girls who, along with other teens, have been campaigning for a pedestrian overpass since the death of their friend.
Leslie Hill was hit and killed while crossing Greenville Boulevard near Fairview Way. She is one of nine pedestrians hit on Greenville Boulevard since the start of 2002, according to Greenville Police Department reports.
Hers is one of two pedestrian fatalities during that time.
Hill was outside walking with two other friends on a sunny afternoon. She was hit after stepping out of the median in front of an oncoming car.
The crosswalk she was in is near the back of E.B. Aycock Middle School.
Crossing the road there can be a nerve-wracking experience as cars whiz by, her friends and classmates say. A desire to protect others and to memorialize their friend prompted the youth to start a campaign to have a pedestrian overpass installed.
In early June, they met with Lassiter and others at the Department of Transportation district office, the outcome of which was a decision to conduct a study.
The study will take about two months to complete, Lassiter said.
"We're looking at the location, what kind of improvements could be made. We'll look at everything we have available, up to and including a pedestrian overpass," he said.
Other safety measures, such as consolidating the current crosswalks into the safest location and installing a pedestrian waiting area in the median, are among the options that will likely also be examined, he said.
Officials will then report their findings to the group of teens, who have vowed to raise money and do whatever else it takes to see the project through.
"The important thing and what we're really trying to stress is getting this group involved and being a part of the resolution of this," Lassiter said.
The teens hope the study will show a pedestrian overpass is a possibility. They believe it will be the safest alternative.
"We're trying to convince them a pedestrian bridge is the best. You can't control what people are going to do ... but we need to have this for the people that are smart enough to use this," one of the teens, Erika Eagle, said.
Hill is not the first person to be hit on Greenville Boulevard, but police wreck reports don't reveal repeated problems at any particular intersection.
Since the start of 2002, nine pedestrians have been hit by vehicles on Greenville Boulevard within the city limits of Greenville, according to police reports.
Six of them, including Hill, were hit by cars in the stretch between 10th Street and Charles Boulevard.
At Rosewood Drive, a short distance away from where Hill was killed, a 43-year-old man in 2004 was struck at night and later died at the hospital.
On the other side of Fairview Way, an 11-year-old girl running across Greenville Boulevard near the intersection of Golden Road suffered minor injuries when she collided with a car in 2004.
In 2003, two pedestrians were hit in separate incidents near the intersection of 14th Street. In one, a 42-year-old man suffered serious injuries.
Also in 2003, a 23-year-old woman who did not use a crosswalk was struck and seriously injured near the intersection of Eastbrook Drive.
The three other people hit during the same time period suffered injuries as well. Two of those incidents took east of Memorial Drive near St. Andrews Drive and Brimley Road and the other happened at Holliday Court, west of Memorial Drive.
Safety measures won't protect all pedestrians, said the teens advocating for safety measures near Fairview Way. But even preventing one pedestrian from being hit would make the project worthwhile, the teens said.
"I think it's important about saving a life, period. We've had a tragedy occur. I've been on Greenville Boulevard lately, and it's amazing how fast people drive and it's just so shocking. It wouldn't matter how many people in my opinion were killed; I believe it is still worth going for," one of the teens, Taylor deGrasse, said.
Death of Student Mourned Monday, April 13th, 2005
Amanda Karr
Students and staff at E.B. Aycock Middle School remembered a 14-year-old girl killed after being hit by a car as a funny, friendly eighth-grader.
Leslie Hill of 1751 Beaumont Circle died after being struck while crossing Greenville Boulevard near the school Monday afternoon. Hill was out with two friends, Greenville police said. There were no classes at the school; Monday was a teacher workday. Police investigators believe the girl didn't see an oncoming car when she stepped into the roadway to cross the street back into her neighborhood.
"She was a clown, overall a really good kid," said School Resource Officer A.J. Dennison. "You never had to say anything to her. She was a good kid, a good student. The eighth-grade kids are really tore up today and the stadd also."
Many students Tuesday talked to grief counselors who were at the school to help those affected by Hill's death. A number of her female friends went home early because they were so upset, Dennison said.
Students also stopped to write notes on several posters in memory of Hill. One child wrote "you're in heaven now." Another wrote "you were a great friend, always smiling." Students also wrote notes that Hill was to young to die and they wished she was still here, Dennison said.
The crosswalk of white, painted lines across the four lanes of traffic on Greenville Boulevard, is one of two across from school grounds.
Only a handful of kids who live in the neighborhood across the road use the crosswalk to get to and from school, Dennison said. He said parents have asked him about having a crossing guard posted on the road. Because of the number of lanes and high traffic volue, it would take at least two trained police officers to safely operate, he said.
"Only the kids that live in that neighborhood cross that way. Of course it is dangerous, because it is a five-lane highway. Leslie had crossed it a thousand times. It's a terrible, terrible accident," Dennison said.
Lynne Garcia, one of Hill's fifth-grade teachers, was among those saddened by the girl's death.
Garcia remembered Hill as a happy, joking child.
"Just her personality was the most wonderful thing about her. She was a very loving child, even to her teachers. She could find the humor in anything, even the math if it was really hard. She would find the light side of the serious." said Garcia, who teaches math.
Garcia kept up with Hill after the girl moved on in school through a youth program at St. James United Methodist Church. Hill was not a member of the church, but she would attend youth progras with friends.
"She would just grab on to me and tell me all about her life, about her love life when she got into boys, whatever was going on," remembered Garcia, who would chaperone the youth events.
Hill also joked with Dennison. In the cafeteria at lunch time, she would rub his bald head as if he was a genie, he said.
"She was always smiling. She would be a friend to anybody. That's the kind of child she was." Garcia said.
Hill participated in the school choir and also was a member of the Greenville Children's Choral Society.
She is the third student from E.B. Aycock to have died this year.
In November, a seventh-grade girl died after getting sick. In March, a seventh-grade boy was shot outside his home.
"One is too many. Three is just heartbreaking," Dennison said.
Greenville police investigators are looking for additional witnesses to the crash, which occured Monday about 4:15 p.m. Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Phil Worthington at 329-4597.
