LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Deer Park intersection has seen two car crashes in the span of two weeks.
Windshield glass littered the road from a crash Wednesday, a car bumper still lays in the yard of a neighbor from a crash on Sept. 13, and a stone wall is still crumbling after a car rammed into it years ago.
These are the sights at the intersection of Norris Place and Stevens Avenue in Deer Park.
Adam Samulak has lived on Stevens Avenue since 2018; he told WHAS11 that he's seen more traffic recently, which has led to more accidents.
"Accidents happen here a lot more often than I’m comfortable with," Samulak said. "I cross several times to get back and forth, several times to get to and from work and sometimes it’s just a gamble. I hope there’s not a car coming because I’ve got to stick my nose out there, get it dirty, and see if I can make it across."
He said when his kids would take the bus, it caused worry for the family having the kids cross the busy street.
Now, with more people driving their kids to school, there are more commuters on the busy road in the morning.
"I don’t want to have to worry about walking my dog, or walking along with my kids at 7 o’clock in the morning or 5 o’clock in the evening and have to worry about dodging cars, flying off the road and into our yards," Samulak said.
There is only one stop sign at the intersection, for drivers going from Stevens Avenue across Norris Place.
Streets for People Director Chris Glasser said the issue along these roads have been going on for years.
"With the low visibility at the hill, that just creates a confluence of dangerous intersection," he said.
Glasser said the issues doesn't start and stop at the intersection, either. They span across Norris Place.
"The whole corridor from Eastern Parkway at Norris all the way to Douglass at Bardstown Road is a very unsafe corridor," he said. "Multiple council members dating back to Brandon Coan and after that Cassie Chambers Armstrong and now Ben Reno-Weber have identified it as a corridor that they would like to see safety improvements."
Glasser said the city has tried to implement some safety additions over the years, like driver feedback signs on Norris Place that show a driver how fast they are driving. But, he said he has not seen a drastic change to the safety conditions.
"I don't think feedback signs work," Glasser said. "They become background noise after a while and people don't observe that. Maybe they're going ten miles over the speed limit. I think at first the flashing light might catch you attention. The feedback signs have been up for six years and I think it's fair to say they're not making the corridor safer."
Glasser is calling for other safety improvements, like a speed table, which are raised midblock crossings.
Glasser, Samulak, and other neighbors WHAS11 spoke to, are also calling for the city to install a four-way stop at Norris Place and Stevens Avenue.
"In a corridor like this, where there is a lot of pedestrian activities, there are bars on this corridor there are coffee shops, there are multiple schools on this corridor. A lot of people walking and crossing the street. I think those types of treatments really prioritize the pedestrian," Glasser said.
In an update sent to WHAS11, Louisville Metro Public Works said:
"There is nothing going on at that intersection currently. Our Traffic Engineering department is searching their records to analyze the data, then conduct a preliminary evaluation to determine whether a four-way stop needs to be installed."
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