Over the last several years, three young kids have been hit by cars on East Troy, near the Keenan-Stahl Unit Boys & Girls Club. Within the last two weeks, 7-year-old, Daniel, was involved in a hit and run at night. One accident was fatal and involved a 15-year-old club member, RJ, who was trying to cross the street to get to his school bus stop. I live in this neighborhood and it is very dangerous to walk on East Troy. Every day, I watch kids dodge cars and run across the street as fast as they can because there aren’t any sidewalks, only one crosswalk with a crossing signal that does not work and no street lights, making it hard for cars to see people in the street at night.
Due to the fact that it is so unsafe on this street, the Keystone Club, a group of 14 to 18-year-olds at the Keenan-Stahl Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis, decided to take a stand for something we believe in. Many kids of all ages walk to and from the Boys & Girls Club as well as from Emma Donnan Middle School, also on East Troy. For the last six months, we have been planning a project to create a walkability assessment of this street. Our project began before Daniel was hit and we want to prevent this from happening again.
I know how it feels to walk on East Troy. I live close and it is very tough to travel on foot. Because there are no sidewalks, even when I try to walk alongside the street, I still don’t feel safe. I walk in the grass to prevent something from happening to me.
This project was an invitation to the community and city officials to join us in walking East Troy in order to identify the positives and negatives for pedestrians. We took pictures, contacted members of the City-County Council and had a representative from the mayor’s office attend as well. We also had several TV stations cover our cause.
We want our voices to be heard so that we can help prevent more accidents and deaths in our neighborhood. We are hoping this will encourage the city to make changes in our community, starting with East Troy. Having the proper traffic safety will make it much safer for everyone. The Keystone Club is proud to take a stand for what we believe in!
Editor’s note: Views expressed in this column are the writer’s and not necessarily those of the Recorder Newspaper.
