City Council discusses pedestrian safety in wake of pedestrian death on Elliott Avenue

Days after a woman was killed crossing Elliott Avenue after sunset on the evening of October 3, her death permeated much of Charlottesville City Council’s first meeting of the month.

“A 64 year old woman, Mamawa Samai, was killed in the incident,” said City Councilor Natalie Oschrin. “I hope I speak on behalf of all of us up here that we were heartbroken to learn of that, and that we are going to try to do what we can to continue making improvements to bike pedestrian infrastructure in this city.” 

Several speakers during the City Council’s public comment period urged the city to invest more in sidewalks and other ways to make pedestrians safer. 

“There’s going to be a lot of work to do and it’s going to be quite expensive,” said Peter Krebs with the Piedmont Environmental Council. “But this is what cities do. Cities build sidewalks and it’s our collective responsibility to do it. Let’s remember also that not fixing this stuff is even more expensive. What’s the value of a human life? It’s incalculable.”

Dan Miller, a resident of Avon Street, called for raised crosswalks to be installed at locations such as the area where Samai was killed. 

“If you go up to Alexandria, you can see these crosswalks all over their arterial roads,” Miller said. “They allow for emergency vehicles to travel through the area at full speed, but they slow down normal traffic.” 

Frankie Allen, a resident of Green Street, is a nurse who called traffic safety a public health concern. She called for additional lighting but also a reshaping of Elliott Avenue itself.

“I would also argue that the width of the road at that point is part of what is so dangerous,” Allen said. “If you are driving, it is so hard to see both the traffic that’s coming towards you, as well as to actually be able to see whether or not there are people who are trying to cross.”

When it came time for him to give his regular report, City Manager Sam Sanders acknowledged Samai’s death. 

“There are multiple issues that contributed to the loss of Miss Samai and I submit that we can do better,” Sanders said. 

For many years, the city has struggled to implement sidewalk projects, but the relatively new administration is beginning to make progress. For instance, city crews recently closed a sidewalk gap on the northern side of Elliott Avenue south of Ridge Street. 

On Friday, Deputy City Manager for Operations James Freas called together the city’s transportation planners to identify what can be done in the short term.  One will be a city-wide study of the speed limits. 

“Compare those in relation to our Streets That Work plan and the designated design speeds for those streets, and then propose back to council speed limit adjustments citywide,” Freas said. 

Freas urged members of the public to visit the Move Safely Blue Ridge initiative being spearheaded by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. (visit the website)

Sanders said Council will next review transportation at the November 4 work session. He also said this will come up in the development of the FY26 budget.  

“Capital improvement program work will be discussed by the planning commission also in November and then finalized in December,” Sanders said.  

The city is still trying to fill a vacant traffic engineer position, a task Freas said has been difficult due to competition for skilled employees. One option might be to outsource the work.

To learn more about transportation planning in Charlottesville, here are some resources:

• Charlottesville now provides an update on upcoming projects on its website, something that has not been consistent during my time as a reporter. (go look at the site)
• In May, city staff described how they feel they must earn back the city’s trust on transportation issues. Here’s a story I wrote. 
• For many years, the city accepted funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation for a series of projects that have not yet been built. Two years ago, they canceled two projects and the Commonwealth Transportation Board discussed the matter. Take a look at that story, too. 
• Charlottesville’s Comprehensive Plan has a transportation chapter. Have you read it? It begins on page 55.
• There’s an appendix to the Comprehensive Plan with a whole narrative on the city’s roadways. (read that document)

Any questions? 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the October 10, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.