MERIDIAN-KESSLER — Two major crashes in just a couple of weeks have residents of one north side neighborhood worried and frustrated.
It's all based at the intersection of 43rd and Meridian streets.
“Unfortunately, I panic every day thinking about my children driving through that intersection," Kim Kourany, who lives on 43rd Street, exclaimed.
“I don’t want my kids walking on Meridian or driving on Meridian, or crossing it," Bruce Heslin, who lives off Meridian Street, stated. "It’s just dangerous.”
It's just one more on the long list of issues neighbors have seen.
“[It's] never been a great corner, but it seems to have gotten worse just in the last few years," Heslin explained.
“We’ve seen countless accidents. Sadly, really catastrophic accidents… it just happens on a weekly basis," Kourany said.
On Friday, a crash at the intersection injured at least one person.
“I can’t say I was shocked," Kourany said. "I was saddened, of course, and I was really hopeful that this could have been avoided.”
It comes just a couple of weeks after another crash at the same spot left one woman dead.
"There's a lot of things that can be done," Heslin stated.
On Monday morning, the Department of Public Works put up neon yellow pylons in the middle of Meridian Street. They told WRTV it was their way of preventing people from turning left or crossing over the roadway. The goal is to reduce opportunities for collisions.
When we were out on Meridian Street on Monday afternoon, we saw several people ignore the pylons: driving around them when they had room and even knocking one over as we were filming.
Many neighbors WRTV spoke with said they're not sure it's really going to stop the problem.
“This is just temporary. We need a more permanent solution," Kourany said. "A light or something to calm traffic on Meridian.”
“I think it would be safer if we went to one lane and slowed the traffic down, and it maybe had more lights," Heslin said.
DPW did not say if they have any other plans for other fixes in the future.
But neighbors agree:
“This probably needs to go up higher on their list of priorities," Heslin exclaimed.
“I’m hopeful that DPW will take the opportunity to raise this on their list of priorities so that the community is safer," Kourany stated.
WRTV reached out to John Barth, City-County Councilmember for District 7. He was unable to speak with us, but sent a statement saying:
"I’ve been working closely with neighbors and the Meridian Street Foundation to tackle the dangers of reckless driving at 43rd and Meridian. This intersection has seen far too many crashes, including a recent fatal one. I appreciate IMPD stepping up enforcement in the area, and I helped bring residents together with DPW last week to talk through next steps. My goal is for DPW to keep working side by side with neighbors to come up with real, workable solutions that calm traffic and make this intersection safer for everyone."
