NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — Two months after a teenager was hit and killed while crossing a busy North Ridgeville street, the city is getting closer to improvements promised in the wake of the tragedy.
This week, the city announced it had received preliminary plans from its traffic consultant for pedestrian safety improvements at Lorain and Lear Nagle Roads.
“I think the time and attention to it has pushed this as fast as we can,” Mayor Kevin Corcoran told News 5 Thursday.
He said the city started looking at its options hours after Violet Gustfason was killed. In mid-November, family said the 16-year-old Lorain County JVS junior was crossing from Starbucks back to work at McDonald’s on Lorain Rd when she was hit by a car.
RELATED: 16-year-old struck, killed by vehicle in North Ridgeville
“It just doesn’t seem real to me that one day she’s talking to me about everything, listening to music with me and then the next day she’s gone. It’s definitely shock,” friend Brandon Jones said at the time.
The tragedy prompted family and friends to ask for a closer look at safety around the busy intersection.
“I just want to make sure that this never happens to anybody else’s family again,” Violet’s mother, Corinne Gustafson, said in November.
Violet’s classmates started an online petition, calling for additional crosswalks, better lighting and other improvements near Lorain and Lear Nagle Roads. Two months later, it has more than 5,000 signatures.
RELATED: Why is there no crosswalk at North Ridgeville intersection where 1 was killed?
Following the outcry, the city responded with a pledge to improve safety for pedestrians in the area. It said it was already working with a traffic engineering consultant to address the corridor’s increased traffic congestion and safety concerns.
“It is the busiest intersection in the city,” said Mayor Corcoran. “We’re just trying to create a more pedestrian-friendly and safe area in that area and we’ll get through that.”
He said the city will be reviewing the preliminary plan from the consulting firm and fine-tuning details. While details are being finalized, he said the final project will include adding crosswalks, adjusting traffic signal timing, increasing lighting and other improvements.
When asked why it took a tragedy to create a plan, Corcoran said pedestrian traffic had been minimal in the area, and crosswalks to the southern part of the intersection weren’t a consideration until a coffee shop moved there in recent years.
“Really the pedestrian traffic situation on the other side of the street started when Starbucks went in,” he said.
He said city leaders will be finalizing plans in the coming weeks and he expects work to begin on the pedestrian safety improvements by March 1.
“It’s unfortunate that the tragedy happened. If there’s something we can make an improvement on with safety there, we’re going to take the steps to do that so it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
