A pedestrian fatality last week on the upper level of the University of Pittsburgh campus will provide the first high-profile case for Pittsburgh’s program to respond to traffic fatalities.
Jessie Maroney, 37, a Pitt staff member, died when she was struck by a box truck Dec. 5 as she was in the crosswalk at Darragh and Terrace streets. The city’s Vision Zero program, which began in March with a goal of eliminating traffic fatalities, will review the busy intersection next week to see what immediate steps can be taken to make it safer.
An organization known as Complete Streets at Pitt held a vigil at the crash site Wednesday to call for changes in that area, where another pedestrian was killed last year and a total of four have died since 2019. A total of seven pedestrians have died in crashes in Oakland since 2009.
During a news conference, Neil Cahill, a Pitt sophomore who serves as president of Complete Streets, called on the city and the university to take immediate action to improve the intersection. He called the crash the latest incident of “vehicular violence” in the neighborhood.
Vehicles whipping through the intersection during the event showed little regard for pedestrians, turning into crosswalks even if pedestrians had the walk sign in their favor.
Cahill said the area has “tons of traffic” from vehicles and pedestrians because it is located near Pitt’s School of Medicine, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and the Petersen Events Center. Terrace Street is the east-west alternative to extremely busy Fifth and Forbes avenues, so it has more than its share of traffic, too, Cahill said.
The group has gotten no response from the university, which Cahill called surprising because Maroney was an employee. He said a week before her death she helped to prevent a colleague from walking in front of a vehicle ignoring the pedestrian signal at the same intersection.
Pittsburgh Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, whose district includes part of Oakland, said the rapid response team the city created as part of the Vision Zero effort will review the intersection next week. She said the university is cooperating with the review coordinated by the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.
Among the possible immediate changes could be limiting or eliminating turns, extending the walking signal so it doesn’t change immediately when the traffic signal changes, and better lighting, Strassburger said. Installing new traffic signals is a expensive longer-term project, she said.
When it announced the Vision Zero effort in March, the city said it would double its annual budget for safety improvements to about $1 million.
“It could cost $200,000 to $400,000 to replace the signals,” Strassburger said. “In the meantime, we’re going to do what we can right now.”
She stressed that drivers have to be part of the solution, too, by obeying speed limits, following traffic signals and not driving with intoxicated or distracted.
Cahill said changes can’t come soon enough. “I never, ever want to have an event like this again.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.