Formal request submitted to city for second sidewalk on Vinyard Street

Jun. 28—ANDERSON — Lindsay Brown has submitted a request for a second sidewalk to be installed after a child was struck and killed on West Vinyard Street.

"Our youth is our future," said Brown, president of the Indiana Democrat African American Caucus. "We have to protect our youth."

Brown said he decided to make the request after minister Kojak Fuller asked him for assistance. Brown said he directed Fuller to the city's Board of Public Works and a city councilman, but the calls weren't returned and he decided to make a formal written request.

On June 14, My'Ken Boyd, 5, died after he was struck by an SUV near the side of the road in the 700 block of West Vinyard Street.

Neighbors said the little boy and other children in the area often cross back and forth the busy road to a sidewalk that only runs on the north side of the street.

Brown said the community no longer has a children's club and residents have limited access to recreational facilities and sporting activities depending on where they live. He said adding a sidewalk on both sides of the road is beneficial for people of all ages to use for walking or riding bicycles.

Brown said he also wanted to see better maintenance around the city's streets and the addition of signage warning drivers that children play in the area. He said that some of the speed limit signs on Vinyard are obscured by vegetation that could be removed by the street department.

Mayor Thomas Broderick, Jr. said a check of police records by Assistant Chief Mike Lee revealed there have been three accidents on Vinyard in the last two years, including the accident that took Boyd's life.

The other two accidents were property damage only, said Broderick.

"There does not appear at this preliminary time to be any unusual incidence of accidents on this street," he said.

Broderick expressed his deepest sympathy regarding Boyd's death. He said there are no words can adequately address the unbearable loss of a child.

"Our hearts and prayers are fully with the family of My'Ken," he said.

Broderick said while there are several streets in the city that do not have sidewalks, it is now a requirement for all new streets and new housing additions.

"It would not be practically or financially possible to put sidewalks on every street — to my knowledge no community of our age has that," he said. "We work hard each year trying to keep our present roads and sidewalks in good shape."

Terri Austin, director of public and media relations for the city, said it is not unusual for the city to receive requests like the one made by Brown.

"Before a sidewalk anywhere is installed, a study and review is made," Austin said. "Many factors would be considered, including safety, need, cost and neighborhood and property owner concerns."

She said the sidewalk that runs along the north side of Vinyard Street was installed several years ago under a prior administration and it is not unusual for sidewalks to be only on one side of the street depending on different variables.

Austin said Boyd's death was "a horrible tragedy," but a police investigation revealed that neither excessive speed, driver impairment, or the lack of a sidewalk was involved in the accident.

"The investigation determined that the young child went into the roadway, to cross the street and walked into the path of the oncoming car," she said.

Austin said the installation of a new sidewalk like the one Brown is requesting would take considerable time and money.

"We don't have immediate information available regarding a potential cost, but based on other sidewalk work it would be substantial," she said. "The budget is generally sent in the fall for the subsequent year. Road and paving projects for 2021 were determined in late 2020 and early 2021 and have been bid and are currently underway."

Broderick said Vinyard Street also presents a number of specific challenges including a water drainage ditch on the south side of the road where a sidewalk might exist, several utility poles that would have to be relocated, the relocation of a fire hydrant, sewer cleanouts and mailboxes moved.

"In order to put in sidewalks, a substantial re-engineering of the area would have to occur," Broderick said.

Brown said the safety of children and residents should take priority over cost concerns. He said there are feasible ways to address the drainage issue and still put in a sidewalk.

"There's always a thousand different things we can do to hinder the process of progress," Brown said. "There's always red tape that we could put up. When the right people want things done, it gets done. Things can be done. Stop making excuses why things cannot get done."

Austin said the city is already working to make the area safer for the residents who live on Vinyard Street with additional patrols and speed enforcement activity. She said speed was not ruled a factor in Boyd's death, but it is an issue the city wants to address.

"The street is posted 30 mph and citizens need to follow those limits, as well as other limits throughout the city," she said. "Many of these areas are neighborhoods, and there are, due to summertime, kids and bicyclists throughout the city residential areas."

Brown said the city has the ability to pay for the project through its loss fund account and some of the efforts described by Austin, including radar signs to tell people they are speeding on Vinyard, are a "Band-Aid fix."

"A child's life or any other child's life in that neighborhood is worth more than the cost of that sidewalk, " he said. "This is for the well-being of all the youth in that neighborhood."

Follow Traci L. Miller @_TraciMiller on Twitter, email her at traci.miller@heraldbulletin.com, or call her at 765-640-4805.