Police say at least five pedestrians have been killed by motorists in the last several years along the busy stretch of Niagara Falls Boulevard where a 67-year-old man was killed Thursday. Officials are now reaching out to New York State for help. Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger says Niagara Falls Boulevard is a state road. So town officials have asked the state to conduct a study of traffic patterns along the five-lane stretch between the Youngmann Expressway and Ellicott Creek that has seen a number of fatalities recently.
Emminger says, given the state road forms the border between the Town of Tonawanda and Amherst and has many bus stops, the study would involve all those parties.
"As part of that, we'll be looking at whether or not we should be putting in more crosswalks on the Amherst and Tonawanda sides," he says.
Emminger says illumination also seems to be a problem along the stretch of road, but he does not know the full extent of what will be studied. He says police informed him that pedestrian error was the cause of Thursday's fatality.
"He was wearing dark clothing and a head set on and he crossed against traffic," Emminger said. "So no matter what municipalities do to address this situation, pedestrians and drivers still have to take responsibility for their actions."
He says pedestrian error also was the cause of a similar fatality in August, when a 61-year-old pedestrian using a walker to cross the boulevard was struck and killed by a vehicle.
