West Cervantes from Palafox Street to Pace Boulevard has 31 accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists since 2011, Mayor Ashton Hayward’s first year in office. Two pedestrians have been hit since the first of the year, one of which died from her injuries.
The statistics were provided by the Pensacola Police Department, but it’s difficult to get an accurate number because officers code incidents differently. After reviewing the PPD report and comparing the list with media reports, Inweekly discovered four more incidents that the newspaper added to the list. Of the 31 people hit, seven died-three in the past ten months.
“The corridor needs to stop being fatal,” wrote Mike Kilmer, president of the Historic Brownsville Community. “We are also working very hard to return this corridor to one around and along which a unified business and residential community can once again thrive.
He added, “The Atkins plan which has been added to the TPO long-term plan (currently unfunded) offers a couple of potentially wonderful solutions to this.”
Kilmer was responding to my Outtakes in the Jan. 18 issue – People vs. Boathouse.
| Year | Accidents |
| 2012 | 4 |
| 2013 | 4 |
| 2014 | 3 |
| 2015 | 9 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 31 |
Indeed–that’s too long to wait. They could get out within a matter of months and restripe (narrow) some lanes, add painted crosswalks every block, put planters along the roadside to help calm traffic, and other small-scale “Strong Towns”-style interventions…All for a few tens of thousands of dollars. This could make an immediate difference in saving lives.
Christian,
The Triumph request is a step, but the estimated completion date is six and a half years away. We need immediate action on the pedestrian safety component of the plan.
To its credit, the City has submitted a Triumph Gulf Coast request to fix this inhumane corridor: https://www.myfloridatriumph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/W-Cervantes-St-Mobile-Hwy-Corridor.pdf
Thank you for your reporting on this issue, Rick! West Cervantes is a serious safety hazard and quality of life reducer for some of Pensacola and Escambia County’s most vulnerable residents. Who will be the key decision-maker regarding improvements to West Cervantes– state vs. city or some combination thereof? The public health and safety and economic rationale for funding this project is robust.
See: https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/app/legacy/documents/cs/resources/cs-answering-the-costs-question.pdf
Christian,
What you are suggesting is “smart planning” and in this administration “smart” and “planning” are non-existent.
The area in question is notorious for Pedestrians walking right out in the middle of the street instead of using Crosswalks. This has been a problem for many years and will not change until the area residents learn how to push the Pedestrian buttons at the street intersections and stop walking across the street at random areas between intersections.
Thanks very much for reporting on this issue, Rick. W. Cervantes is like many roads nationwide in which Departments of Transportation have pushed high-speed roads on top of communities, with deadly results. Many communities are now reclaiming these streets and making them safer for cyclists and pedestrians–and it looks like Pensacola is starting come-together on the need on W. Cervantes. If we can calm the traffic through that area and make it more for people and not just cars going fast, it will dramatically come to life!
Randy,
The report I was given by PPD didn’t have that level of detail. The West Cervantes Corridor Plan calls for 1) Installation of street level and pedestrian level lighting throughout the length of the corridor
; 2) Installation of mid-block crossings at five locations along the corridor and 3) Increase North-South sidewalk connectivity in the vicinity of I, H, and G Streets
Are these people hit while crossing at a crosswalk? Were they struck while walking/riding down the street? And who was cited as at fault in the accidents? More info would help, thanks.