The media coverage of the death of Janis Marchyok at Catherine and Glen emphasized jaywalking as the possible culprit. However, as someone who works in the Medical Campus, I have worried about this dangerous intersection for years, hoping this would never happen. But it has and the city of Ann Arbor should reassess the traffic flow here to prevent another tragedy. One suggestion would be to have a “Walk” sign only for pedestrians, with no traffic moving. As it stands now, pedestrians are required to worry about two lanes of fast moving traffic turning onto Glen from Catherine. Many times drivers do not see (or ignore) the “no turn on red” signs, which makes this an even scarier intersection than most in town. It usually takes a tragedy like this to get people’s attention.
Let’s hope something changes and more deaths can be avoided.
Susan Wineberg, social science research assistant, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations