Pedestrian Injured at Beechwood and Wilkins has Died

From Beth Louise’s GoFundMe page (link below).

Emily Johanna Hoffman, who was hit by a driver while crossing Beechwood Boulevard at Wilkins Avenue on February 9th, died from her injuries on February 17th. Her friends and family have created a GoFundMe to establish scholarships in her name.

It is important to remember that, while Ms. Hoffman’s death is certainly a tragedy, it is no “accident.” It is the result of an intersection design at Beechwood and Wilkins that prioritizes vehicular throughput over pedestrian safety. As this intersection is partially owned by the City and partially by PennDOT, it’s a complicated nut to crack, but Councilperson Erika Strassburger is committed to improving it. “I have pushed DOMI to do whatever they can with their 2023 operating funds in order to make the intersection safer ASAP,” she said. “I am hopeful we will be able to make some simple but effective changes in the near-term as we look to more permanent safety measures, and am already in conversation with ped- and bike advocates about this…This intersection is at the top of my list of intersection requests for the 2024 budget season.” She also clarified that she supports automated enforcement, including red-light and speed cameras, which avoid the racial and other biases of traditional enforcement.

PennDOT also sent me a slightly couched response. “At this time, we are following up with the City of Pittsburgh as they own, maintain, and operate traffic signals within their municipality to review this incident collectively with them,” said Stephanie Zolnak, Assistant District Traffic Engineer. “We are also currently gathering further details surrounding this incident and are planning to review the signal in the field with the City of Pittsburgh collectively in their review efforts.” While the signal itself is a part of the issue, changing it won’t shorten the pedestrian crossing distance, or address confusing conflicts from Linden Avenue.

Please reach out to PennDOT District 11, State Representative Dan Frankel, and State Senator Jay Costa to gain their support, both political and monetary, to redesign this dangerous intersection.