Contra Costa County is set to receive nearly $30 million in federal funding to make roads safer for pedestrians.
A good portion of the money will go towards improving a problematic corridor in Antioch where a car collision recently took the life of a 12-year-old walking home from school.
The memorial is still up along Sycamore Drive and Manzanita Way.
It’s where three kids were hit last year after a speeding car lost control and hit a second car – sending it careening into the three kids.
For residents like Jazmon Saaquoi, it was a scene she can’t get out of her mind.
“I still have nightmares,” she said. “My kids walk down this street.”
The crash site is adjacent to L Street, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares where neighbors say cars often race by going well above the speed limit.
“L street is the main corridor for all of these neighborhoods including Sycamore, so if we start there creating a safe environment by reducing speeds, and making it more pedestrian friendly, bicycle friendly, it will trickle down into other communities,” said Mayor Lamar Thorpe.
Thorpe believes fixing this issue will address the root cause of accidents in the area.
The city was recently awarded $13 million from the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to make improvements along L Street.
Those improvements will include everything from restriping lanes to new sidewalks.
Tim Haile with the Transportation Authority says five projects across the county were awarded grant money as part of the Street Safety Projects with the priority going toward helping underserved communities.
“Twenty percent of fatalities are happening on our roadways, so these project are really focused on really improving safety and multi-mobile safety for our most vulnerable road users,” said Haile.
For parents like Saaquoi, any safety measure is better than what she’s seeing now.
“Again we have kids walking around here, something has to be addressed,” said Saaquoi.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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