KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville leaders said crews recently installed curb safety improvements at an intersection near West High School, months after a student was hit by a vehicle.
A release from the city said the student was crossing Sutherland Avenue along a crosswalk when a vehicle hit the student. The crosswalk leads directly to the school and is located near Tobler Lane.
After the student was hit, the city said it installed new "centerline hardening" and curb bulb-out measures with rubber curbing to protect pedestrians at the intersection. The centerline hardening effectively stretches the center yellow line out into the intersection, using a small bump in the road to indicate that drivers need to make harder left turns.
The city said projects like these are "quick-builds," using plastic or rubber which allows Knoxville to be more flexible when making safety improvements. The city also said projects like this are a fraction of the cost compared to traditional construction projects.
"Left-turning vehicles are traditionally a danger to pedestrians due to drivers cutting across the intersection and taking turns diagonally at a high speed," Vision Zero Knoxville said on social media.
Vision Zero is a plan by city leaders to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities on roads to zero by 2040, prioritizing safety over convenience in the way the city approaches traffic policies and improvements.