ST. LOUIS 鈥 City officials said Wednesday they鈥檙e taking action to curb reckless driving following another high-profile hit-and-run death on South Grand Boulevard.
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said she told police to ramp up traffic enforcement in areas that have seen accidents recently. She said she鈥檚 also working on plans to reshape the streets to make them safer, and implored drivers to do their part in keeping people safe in the meantime.
鈥淧lease slow down and pay attention,鈥 she said.
The death of bicyclist Danyell McMiller, 47, of 狐狸视频, on Tuesday afternoon marked the second time a driver killed someone near the South Grand Boulevard commercial district in less than two months and at least the sixth pedestrian or cyclist death citywide since mid-July. The crash adds to the problems for South Grand residents and businesses, who have been complaining of homelessness, fighting and aggressive panhandling. Schnucks even warned it may have to close its store at South Grand and Gravois Avenue if issues with vagrancy and public urination on their property were not resolved.
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Neighborhood leaders responded to Tuesday鈥檚 crash with renewed pleas for help from City Hall, which they said had gone unanswered for weeks.
鈥淚nstitute change,鈥 Tower Grove Neighborhood Association leaders wrote on Facebook. 鈥淧rotect people.鈥
Jones initially responded with a statement pointing out that cities across the country have seen a spike in traffic fatalities during the pandemic, a trend attributed to everything from a rise in anxiety levels to the fraying of social norms.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 tragic hit-and-run on South Grand is a reminder that 狐狸视频 is no exception,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淐ity departments continue to review potential solutions to make our streets safer no matter how 狐狸视频ans choose to get around.鈥
But on Wednesday, those solutions became more concrete.
Alderman Annie Rice, whose ward includes the district, added that residents had a right to be upset. 鈥淧eople are using Grand as a secondary highway,鈥 she said. She said the city didn鈥檛 want to lose any more residents or businesses.
Alderman Megan Green, whose ward also includes South Grand, said the city is working on road changes 鈥 like removing lanes 鈥 to slow traffic coming into the pedestrian-heavy area around the restaurants and shops that line the street here. She said she鈥檚 hoping that will be completed next year.
Natasha Bahrami, the president of South Grand special taxing district said the increased traffic enforcement was welcome news.
鈥淚t makes sense,鈥 she said. 鈥淪omething has to change, because people are getting hurt.鈥
McMiller, the cyclist hit and killed Tuesday, had been riding just before 1 p.m. in the 2800 block of South Grand Boulevard before the crash, police said. He died at a hospital. Police described the car that hit him as a 鈥渨hite, newer model Kia鈥 with no license plates.
Pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 狐狸视频 are trending slightly below last year鈥檚 total of 23.
This year, so far, there have been 13.
Taylor Tiamoyo Harris and Joel Currier of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
