Improvements Ahead for Washington Avenue Intersection

WHEELING - Officials are taking steps to complete safety improvements at an intersection where a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed earlier this year.

In July, local residents urged city leaders to improve the intersection at Washington and Valley View avenues, where a 90-year-old pedestrian died after being struck by a vehicle while attempting to cross the street there.

A petition from residents in the neighborhood, business owners and concerned citizens asked the city to install proper crosswalks and other safety features at the busy intersection. The area is situated just outside of Avenue Eats, the Wheeling Coffee Shoppe and other local businesses and small business offices that are intermingled among residences in the neighborhood, but Washington Avenue serves as a busy corridor through this area connecting U.S. 40 to Interstate 70.

Pedestrian crossing has been difficult there, residents in the area noted, adding that old electronic buttons on utility poles at the intersection had not been operational. Several vehicle accidents have been reported in the area, in addition to the pedestrian fatality, residents stated.

Shortly after neighborhood representatives urged city leaders to take action, the city's operations department installed new, highly visible crosswalk markings there. Officials indicated that placing new crosswalk markings at the intersection is something that could be done immediately, while officials began legwork and started the process to more long-term improvements to the intersection, such as Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant curbs and accessibility, new lighted signals and other safety upgrades.

Wheeling City Council noted that bids on the new upgrades had been received, and legislation to award the contract that will bring about these improvements would soon be forthcoming.

"A few months ago, we requested a modification of the intersection of Valley View and Washington avenues," Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis said. "We wanted to put in some new lights, fix the curbs so they're ADA compliant, have some other flashing lights and do some things to just help that intersection -- because it's becoming a very busy intersection -- so that pedestrians can safely travel across that intersection."

Sklavounakis indicated an ordinance to move forward with these improvements could come before council for a first reading as early as next week.

"Hopefully at our next city council meeting, we will have a reading of an ordinance awarding the bid, and after that we can start the process of constructing the new intersection," he said. "This project has been a little more time consuming than we anticipated, just because there was a lot that needed to go into it, pursuant to different city codes and state codes. We've just had to jump through a bunch of different hoops. But this project has been a priority for city council and also our city staff."

Sklavounakis thanked members of the city staff -- including Director of Public Works Russell Jebbia and City Manager Robert Herron -- for "getting this done as fast as we can."