Front Royal grapples with pedestrian safety in wake of two fatalities

On Monday, January 30, Front Royal Mayor Hollis Tharpe and Councilman William Sealock gathered an informal meeting with Town staff to formulate a plan to address and improve pedestrian safety in Town.  Two pedestrians struck and killed within a two-week period in January prompted the meeting.  Tharpe said it was Sealock who suggested an immediate staff sit-down to address traffic safety concerns.

Just prior to the meeting’s 1 p.m. start, Sealock commented that in his workplace experience if there was a fatality – “EVERYTHING STOPPED!”  That pause in the conduct of normal business routine was made in order to ascertain WHY and HOW to prevent a recurrence – and so it was Monday.

The Front Royal ‘Round Table’ on pedestrian safety at Town Hall on Monday, included from top right, Councilman William Sealock, Mayor Hollis Tharpe, Town Manager Joe Waltz, Planning Director Jeremy Camp and FRPD Captains Jason Ryman, Kevin Nicewarner and Acting Chief Bruce Hite. Photo/Roger Bianchini

Also present were Interim Town Manager Joe Waltz, Planning Director Jeremy Camp and a trio from the Front Royal Police Department: Acting Chief Bruce Hite and Captains Kevin Nicewarner and Jason Ryman.  The FRPD contingent referenced four applicable State Codes regarding pedestrian and vehicular traffic encounters as a backdrop to the discussion.  Those included marked crosswalks giving pedestrians right of way; jaywalking codes; guidelines in “Walk” and “Don’t Walk” signalized crosswalks; and pedestrians entering roads from visually-obstructed positions.

But even more than the law and its enforcement, the discussion evolved around how best to heighten public awareness and elevate common sense in conjunction with existing traffic laws to reduce the likelihood of more vehicular-foot traffic collisions.

Front Royal’s two pedestrian fatalities in the first 23 days of 2017 both occurred during early-evening rush hour traffic on two primary entrances into Town.

On January 11 at 6:30 p.m. 56-year-old Jeffery Green was struck by a westbound (into Town) vehicle at the 800 block of John Marshall Highway (Rt. 55 East) not far from Royal Lane on the Town southeast side.

On January 23 at 6:15 p.m. 54-year-old Annette Suggate was attempting to cross North Shenandoah Avenue near 15^th Street when she was struck by a vehicle that had just turned left off of 14^th Street, heading northbound toward the South Fork Bridge construction.

Both Green and Suggate succumbed to their injuries a short time after the accidents after being transported by emergency services from the respective scenes.

The accidents had several things in common:

• neither Green nor Suggate was walking in a marked pedestrian crossing;
• both accidents occurred during rush hour on high-volume Town entranceways;
• both areas contain a mix of residential and commercial development – the northside scene in particular has both private home and motel accommodations, with convenience store and fast-food options on the other side of the street;
• and both were on multiple lane streets – North Shenandoah Ave. is five lanes and John Marshall Hwy. goes from two lanes to five just prior to Royal Lane and the 800 block.

Sealock asked Waltz to take the lead in developing a plan of action, including prioritization of “how to tackle” the problem with an eye on immediate results in preventing recurrences.  Asked for a timeframe, Waltz said dependent on the availability of law enforcement – “They are the boots on the ground,” Waltz observed – he believed at least a strategical outline could be brought forward within a week.

Several paths forward were suggested.  One was the use of media outlets in educating the public to the problem and increasing awareness on BOTH ends of the equation – foot and motorized travel inside the Town limits.  High on the list of that public educational initiative are what the laws of pedestrian traffic and right of way actually are, basic safety precautions, and heightened driver awareness of pedestrians and the potential of their entering traffic zones.

Revisiting existing marked pedestrian crosswalks, the potential of additions, ongoing maintenance and coordination with changing traffic patterns also appeared high on the group’s to-do list.