The mother of an 8-year-old girl struck by a vehicle in Montgomery is vowing to keep up her quest to make her neighborhood safer, despite the village turning down her request for a stop sign at the intersection where the incident happened.
Trisha Lustig said her daughter was brushed by a vehicle near Avalon and Hanbury lanes while she walked home from Lakewood Creek Elementary School Feb. 5. The girl was not seriously injured.
Lustig wants to see stop signs at the intersection to make it safer. She received 61 supporters after posting an online petition on Facebook to put up the signs.
However, at the Montgomery Village Board meeting Tuesday night, Public Works Director Mike Pubentz and Montgomery Police Chief Dan Meyers told trustees that they conducted traffic surveys and that a stop sign is not warranted at the intersection.
“I am not surprised at the decision,” Lustig said, who vowed that “I am not going to let it go.”
Lustig said she has received plenty of support for her drive for stop signs.
“I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself. I just want to make our corner safe,” she said.
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Pubentz, though, said his survey found the intersection of Avalon and Hanbury lanes did not warrant a three-way stop sign.
“Based on our study, we found very few pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at the location,” he said.
Meyers said that “a three-way sign is not warranted” according to the police department’s surveys as well.
“Putting a stop sign where it is not warranted can create problems,” Pubentz said.
Trustee Steve Jungermann, though, said something should be done at the intersection, even if it is not stop signs at each corner.
Trustee Doug Marecek said he has walked his children to that school.
“Kids are coming and get out of the cars and run across the traffic, especially if they are late,” he said.
Mayor Matt Brolley said that safety measures need to be emphasized with children.
“Tell the kids to do all the crossing in the (cross)walk if they can,” Brolley said.
Judy Pochel is a freelancer reporter