DENVER — A community meeting was scheduled Wednesday night in the Bonnie Brae neighborhood after an auto pedestrian accident in February that left a 3-year-old boy dead.
The Eugene Field Branch Library of Denver will hold a Neighborhood Safety Forum to talk about ways to make the intersection of University Boulevard and Ohio Street safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The gathering is the genesis of what happened at the intersection on Friday, February 13. In the peace and quiet of a library, you can hear the world outside its windows.
“We actually hear things in the building happening, cars screeching, horns honking,” said Librarian Kristen Monroe.
But on February 13, workers heard a crash and saw its deadly aftermath.
“We went out and it was just, it was chaos, and sad, awful,” Monroe said.
She can’t forget it.
“I remember the crumpled stroller. I saw him,” she said.
3-year-old Austin Strasser died of severe head injuries, and his mom and sister were injured, when a driver hit them in the crosswalk. Denver Police said the family had the right-of-way when Joan Hinkemeyer, 78, turned south onto University and hit the family in the crosswalk.
“That day, it was hard. We didn’t feel like we were being particularly helpful,” said Monroe.
But now they hope they are helpful. They are sponsoring a community forum on improving the intersection. “It’s trying to find something positive out of something so terrible and trying to enact change,” Monroe said.
She speaks of possible change like lengthening the pedestrian walk signal, adding a left on green arrow signal and perhaps more speed enforcement.
“I ride a lot and its one of the longest cycles I’ve ever seen,” said cyclist Tim Ward.
He agrees with change.
But others who cross the intersection a lot said it’s unnecessary.
“I feel like it’s perfectly safe. I think that when you are here, it’s one light that you can cross the road, the light changes fairly frequently and quickly,” said one neighbor who didn’t want to be identified.
Whatever comes of the discussion, doesn’t change what happened in the intersection on that tragic day in February.
A weathered Winnie The Pooh sits as a reminder of innocence gone in a careless moment. Hinkemeyer is accused of careless driving resulting in death and careless driving resulting in injury.
She’s due in court Thursday.
The public meeting was at 6: 30 p.m. Wednesday at the Eugene Field Branch Library.