OCOEE, Fla. – The Ocoee City Commission started the discussion of bike and pedestrian safety awareness Tuesday night, coincidentally one week after a 13-year-old boy was thrown off his bike in a hit-and-run crash at the intersection of Wurst Road and Adair Street.
“I want to see change and I’m not going to stop until there is change,” said mom Ashley Wynn. “Just to fight for my son and anybody else. I don’t think anyone else’s child should have to go through this and everyone knows that Wurst Road is a speeding hazard something has to be done, so I’m fighting for a change.”
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The hit-and-run was caught on video a Monday afternoon, by Tuesday neighbors were sounding the alarm about the intersection. By Thursday, Wynn was back out there with her city commissioner, Larry Brinson so he could see it for himself.
“I’m open-minded that pro-activity is best in this situation because what we don’t want is a fatality,” Brinson said last week.
Since then, the Public Works director himself called Wynn.
“I told him, ‘there are no crosswalks out there and some sides of the streets don’t have sidewalks at all.’ So he said, ‘Yeah, we’ve been out there. There only is a crosswalk down by the school crossing area,’” Wynn recounted. “It means a lot because you don’t want anything to get swept under the rug, so everyone reaching out and saying they are going to do something does mean a lot for me and my family.”
The chief of Ocoee Police has already told News 6 speed tables are not an option on Wurst Road, however other options are being considered.
Neighbors want a 3-way stop, Wynn wants a flashing pedestrian crosswalk.
Investigators are still looking for the driver who hit Wynn’s son.
Wynn showed up at the Ocoee City Commission meeting Tuesday night. She said she will not let commissioners sweep this problem under the rug.
“I [want to] know what are you [going to] do to make it safe for not only my children but other children and pedestrians to cross the street?” she asked during public comment.
Other members of the public echoed Wynn calling the traffic on Wurst Road “horrendous” and insisting something to be done to make drivers slow down.
There is a road being developed near the intersection, the commissioners said this could be causing more traffic in the area.
Commissioner Larry Brinson said this has been an issue before then.
“We’ve been talking about this traffic problem on Wurst Road. Long before the development on Lakewood, this is not a new problem,” he said.
Wynn said she wishes this problem was addressed earlier.
“To hear that the speeding has been a problem and they talked about it in the past and nothing had happened it’s sad to know that my child got hit and to know that there could have been safety measures put in place a long time ago,” Wynn said.
Richard Champanaze, with Ocoee Public works, said they cannot do everything at once, but they are preparing for the first project.
“I’ve already drafted up a safety crosswalk on Adair and Wurst Road. [We have to look it over and make sure [the police department] is good with it,” he said.
Wynn is glad this issue is being addressed, but will not be satisfied until her requests are fulfilled.
“You can talk about it but now I want to see what’s going to be the outcome,” she said.
In the meantime, commissioners are urging drivers to slow down.
They plan to work with the police department to make sure they heavily enforce traffic laws in the area.