On Thursday morning, William Tate waited for the pedestrian signal before crossing at the intersection of Duke and S. Pickett Street. Traffic wasn’t too heavy, but Tate still waited for a few minutes and sipped his coffee until the light told him it was safe.
“The biggest problem I see on Duke Street is that people just cut across on foot wearing dark clothing, and they get clipped,” Tate told ALXnow. “Sometimes I’ll see people just running across where there aren’t crosswalks and drivers don’t pay attention. You’ve got to pay attention.”
The wide roadway and long waits for walk signals don’t help matters, however.
Four days earlier, on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 26, 89-year-old Alexandria artist Alfredo DaSilva was killed while crossing Duke Street at the intersection with Cameron Station Blvd. Few details regarding the incident are known, and the driver, who called police and stayed at the scene, was interviewed and released. The incident remains under investigation.
There have been three pedestrian fatalities on Duke Street since the fall of 2018, one of which happened this past November. At around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 16, 2019, John Thompson, a 77-year-old Fairfax County man, was killed crossing Duke Street at Sweeley Street, near the Alexandria Commons Shopping Center. A year before that incident, on Nov. 18, 2018, Nelson Javier Galdamez Reyes, 52, was fatally injured on the ramp from Duke Street to southbound I-395.
Most Alexandria streets are limited to 25 miles per hour, and a new online petition asking for support for a speed reduction to 25 mph, west of Quaker Lane and east of Jordan Street, has received more than 100 signatures.
The city considers Duke Street a “high crash corridor” and is one of the few Alexandria roadways with a speed limit of 35 mph. Last year, the speed limit for a portion of U.S. Route 1 between Four Mile Road and Slater’s Lane, which is another high crash corridor, was reduced from 35 mph to 25 mph.
An 89-year-old Alexandria artist was killed Sunday after being struck by a vehicle while walking across the Duke Street near Cameron Station Blvd.
Police were notified of the incident at 7:52 a.m. Alfredo DaSilva was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The driver of the car that struck him stayed at the scene, was interviewed by police and has not been charged.
“Initial investigation indicates Mr. Alfredo DaSilva, a 89-year-old Alexandria city resident, was crossing Duke Street when he was struck by a motor vehicle,” Alexandria police said in a statement. Mr. DaSilva succumbed to his injuries at the scene.”
Members of APD’s Crash Reconstruction Team are investigating the crash.
DaSilva, a highly accomplished artist who was born in Bolivia on Feb. 20, 1935, held one of his last public discussions of his work to a writer’s group at the Charles Houston Recreation Center in 2017.
DaSilva’s career as a painter took off after he won the top prize from the Salon Nacional de Pintura of Buenos Aires in 1959. His career took him to Washington, D.C., where he conducted a one-an show at the Pan American Union, followed by a Guggenheim fellowship in New York City in the early 1960s. His later career was marked by further awards for his work, including the grand prize at the II Biennale of Bolivia INBO in 1977.
Police are asking that anyone who saw the crash contact Officer Jessica Johnson at 703-405-2787.
A tragic loss of life on Duke Street this morning.
Our Police Department will investigate and determine the factors that led to this crash.
We can and must prevent these deaths.https://t.co/AG7p2SfF9T
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) January 26, 2020
Map via Google Maps
A man remained hospitalized with serious, though non-life threatening, injuries after a crash on Yoakum Parkway yesterday, according to police.
The 300 block of Yoakum Parkway was closed in both directions around 5 p.m. yesterday (Monday), up to Stevenson Avenue, police tweeted. An adult male pedestrian was struck by a vehicle, police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine told ALXnow, with serious but life-threatening injuries that left him hospitalized.
Yoakum Parkway is a popular thoroughfare near Landmark Mall, connecting several residential communities to Edsall Road and the Beltway.
Ballantine said the crash is still being investigated by the police department’s crash team because of the seriousness of the incident.
Photo via Google Maps
Local residents and local officials came out for this weekend for a march in Arlandria to remember those killed in traffic.
The march was hosted on Sunday, Nov. 17, by Alexandria Families for Safe Streets to honor World Remembrance Day, an international memorial event dedicated to raising awareness of traffic violence.
The husband and daughters of Rosemarie Cruz, who was killed in an Arlandria crosswalk in 2016, marched in the crowd with over 100 residents of Alexandria and Arlington, according to a press release. Photos and video of the event show marchers in the street around the intersection of West Glebe Road and Mount Vernon Avenue, where Cruz was killed.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey, and Alexandria Chief of Police Mike Brown also joined the march.
Alexandria has committed to Vision Zero, a plan to get to zero traffic fatalities. Part of the plan involves changing roadways to make them more accessible to non-car uses, like bicycles, but the implementation of the plan on Seminary Road has been the subject of significant local controversy.
“Vigilance on the part of drivers, cyclist and pedestrians alike plus improvement in safer road designs and higher enforcement visibility are ways in which traffic violence against pedestrian and other road users can be reduced,” the organization said in a press release.
The press release also notes that the event was preceded by another fatal pedestrian crash, on Duke Street.
A 77-year-old Fairfax County man was struck and killed by a driver on Duke Street near the Alexandria Commons shopping center over the weekend.
The crash happened around 7:30 a.m. Saturday on Duke Street at Sweeley Street.
Police say Fairfax County resident John Thompson, 77, was crossing in the crosswalk when he was struck. He later died at a local hospital.
The driver remained on the scene and thus far there’s no word on any charges being filed, though police say they’re still investigating the crash. More from an Alexandria Police Department press release:
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a traffic crash that occurred on Saturday, November 16, in the 3100 block of Duke Street.
At approximately 7:35 a.m., police responded to the area for a pedestrian struck in the intersection of Duke Street and Sweeley Street. Initial investigation indicates Mr. John Thompson, a 77-year-old Fairfax County resident, was crossing Duke Street in the crosswalk when he was struck by a motor vehicle. Mr. Thompson died from his injuries at a local hospital. The driver of the vehicle remained on the scene.
Members of the Crash Reconstruction Team and Criminal Investigations Section are investigating the crash. The investigation is ongoing. Alexandria Police ask that witnesses with information regarding this incident contact Officer Charles Gardiner at 703.408.6375.
Last month a car ran into the front of the Sweetfrog frozen yogurt shop at the Alexandria Commons shopping center.
Photo via Google Maps
