People who live in the St. Roch neighborhood of New Orleans speak out about dangerous intersections near the highway, where they say speeding drivers frequently cause crashes and property damage.
WDSU met Kristyna Jones, who lives near the intersection of North Miro Street and Elysian Fields Avenue, Tuesday.
“Probably monthly there’s a major accident here,” Jones said during an interview at the intersection. “Someone has hit another car and flipped it over, has flipped their own car over, has caused a traffic jam.”
Public records show there have been 12 9-1-1 calls for car or traffic incidents at that intersection so far this year. Something Jones said she takes extra caution to avoid.
“This guy is probably going to creep slowly away from that light, if he’s smart,” she said while watching drivers go by. “See, he didn’t move very fast. He moved very slowly across the intersection.”
Jones said she wrote to public officials about the issue, but has not seen any changes.
“That’s not fair to us or our neighbors or the children who might be riding their bikes or coming home from school on a bus,” she said.
Nearby intersections have also seen frequent incidents. At St. Roch Avenue and North Robertson Street, there have been eight 9-1-1 calls for car and traffic incidents this year. Just down the block at St. Roch and North Claiborne Avenue, there has been a hit-and-run and another traffic incident.
WDSU spoke to one man who lives near the intersection of St. Roch and North Robertson. He did not want to be interviewed, but he said the traffic issues in this neighborhood are causing him not only to leave the area, but the city.
Michael Garver, another St. Roch resident, said he and his neighbors have brought their concerns to city officials as part of a Safe Streets project. He says they are still waiting for results.
“We follow up and follow up and then we don’t hear from anybody,” Garver said. “So it ends up being like, okay, we’re just one of those small Black neighborhoods that just gets swept under the rug and no one’s going to care about because we’re not the French Quarter.”
The city’s Safe Streets for All plan, passed by the City Council in April, aims to cut traffic deaths in half within five years.
“There’s a lot of history here, and families have lived here for many generations, and it’s just tough to see the vehicles getting larger, faster,” Garver said during an interview outside his home Tuesday. “Everything is very car-centric. So, it’s like, you can’t go walking out here and feel safe anymore.”
Mayor Helena Moreno released a safety action plan in May, which includes millions of dollars in planned improvements along North Claiborne Avenue, North Robertson Street, and Elysian Fields Avenue.
READ MORE:People in St. Roch call for action on dangerous intersections
