by Kim Gebbia
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn- How many more people will die trying to cross some of Middle Tennessee's busy roads? It's a question one Clarksville City Councilman wants answered.
In some cases, a person has to cross 7 lanes of dangerous traffic, and Monday night doing that proved to be fatal for one Nashville man.
53-year-old Charles Parham, of Hermitage, is the eighth person to die in the past two years while trying to cross one of Clarksville's busy state roads. Halfway through seven lanes on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard Monday night, a Chrysler Pacifica hit him head on.
"Especially on a night like last night where it is rainy and overcast, the driver that struck the pedestrian never had an opportunity to see him or even slow down or anything," said Lt. Phillip Ashby with the Clarksville Police Department.
It's something officers are all too familiar with. As business boomed on roads like Wilma Rudolph and Fort Campbell Blvd. more cars and more pedestrians followed.
And Lt. Ashby says there is no easy way to keep the two from crossing paths.
"Pedestrians don't want to be inconvenienced they want to cross right where they are at. They don't go to the intersection where there are lights," said Ashby.
Councilman Nick Steward shared Ashby's frustration with the ongoing problem in the city.
"It is very frustrating, the question that is often asked is how many people need to die before someone is going to step up and do what needs to be done?" Steward asked.
Steward says the answer is pedestrian crosswalks, at lights and even potential pedestrian overpasses in heavily trafficked areas without intersections.
But that takes state money local leaders can't get.
"As a city council member my hands are tied to fix an issue that is so prevalent in our community because it is a state road," said Steward.
But Steward says the funding should be there. Clarksville is 5th in the state for money given to TDOT, yet they are only 12 to 15th in what they receive back.
He believes that gap needs to be closed so pedestrians like Parham at least have the option to cross the road without putting their life on the line.
"It goes back to the price tag that we put on a human life we are dealing with now a family that is going to spend the holidays having to bury one of their relatives who died on Wilma Rudolph. What price tag do we put on that?" said Steward.
Next week Clarksville city council will file their annual request to state lawmakers to let them know what they want and need funding for on the local level. Steward says safer roads and crosswalks will be a top priority in this years request.
Email: kgebbia@newschannel5.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/KimGebbia
Twitter: Twitter.com/NC5_KimGebbia
