Somebody could get seriously injured if not killed where Cross Country Boulevard and Strathmore Road intersect.
Zakah Glaser is at least one determined person to not let that happen.
She, like many others, are hoping that neighbors will step forward, sign an online petition and create a conversation with city and neighborhood officials.
The result of these actions will hopefully be the placement of a much needed traffic signal or three-way stop sign at the intersection.
How many times have all of us in the Cheswolde, Cross Country areas heard the sickening sounds of tires screeching, metal crushing and then the resulting emergency services sirens?
Mrs. Glaser, who lives nearby, has noted at least four accidents in a recent five-day-period. One of these accidents sent a driver off the road, through a neighbor’s metal fence and into the yard where the car was stopped by a tree. In that same yard, children are normally at play. By the grace of HaShem, they weren’t out there at the time of the accident.
Many of us know, however, that passing through the intersection is almost always risky and must be taken with patience and care.
Cars coming from the either direction often aren’t giving themselves enough time to brake for pedestrians or drivers entering the intersection from Strathmore. Time and patience are needed to cross the intersection or to turn in either direction from Strathmore.
This is an intersection heavy with carpools during the school year. It’s an intersection where children are riding bikes, pushing scooters or on skate boards.
The possibilities for accidents and injuries are just waiting to happen, and it is fortunate that there has been no loss of life.
But it’s a ticking time bomb.
Indeed, carpools of little children are dropped off near the intersection. People walking to and from shul are at risk at the intersection. Then there’s the distractions even of cars entering Strathmore from Western Run.
Come on Baltimore City, this is traffic study that is so important and necessary.
It’s not out of the ordinary for people walking to shul to see car parts littered sometimes on the road, a headlamp here, a bumper there.
With the High Holidays approaching and the community using the Western Run for Tashlich, there’s even more concern.
Mrs. Glaser has started this important petition and awareness drive. It’s one we should all support. There needs to be more traffic control at this intersection.
The petition can be signed at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopsignoncrosscountry/