Colerain Ave. in Colerain Township is a major — and busy — thoroughfare. Township officials and the Ohio Department of Transportation are reminding drivers to slow down, and for pedestrians to use marked crosswalks.
"Over the last five years, 39 pedestrians have been involved in accidents in the corridor, including five fatalities," said Jeff McElravy, assistant administrator of finance and development for Colerain Township. He added there has been at least one crash nearly every day in 2024.
ODOT added a mid-block, designated pedestrian crosswalk with rapid flashing beacons near Banning Rd. in 2021. The agency said Thursday it recently added a traffic camera to monitor the crossing and area near Colerain and Banning. It also plans to adjust the timing of the lights and make other improvements to make the crosswalk more obvious to drivers, encouraging them to slow down and be more alert when its in use. Additional static signage has also been adding and more lights are expected in the coming months.
"We're also working actively working with Duke [Energy] right now to explore adding lighting from Kipling Ave. all the way up to Galbraith, so they're exploring options and how to best get that installed on the corridor," said Bree Hetzel, ODOT district traffic studies engineer.
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"We are analyzing other long-range enhancements that will improve the safety not only here, but [along] the entire corridor, based on these pedestrian crashes," she added.
Officials say many people continue to cross Colerain Ave. mid-block, outside of designated crossings. They want that to stop, and are pushing hard to encourage folks to use marked crossings at intersections and the designated mid-block crossing.
Hetzel says everyone — drivers and pedestrians — need to pay more attention and eliminate distractions, like using smartphones while driving or while crossing the street. A good tip, she says, is for pedestrians to make eye contact with drivers.
"Our key message today is for drivers to slow down," McElravy concluded. "Stay alert. Eliminate distractions. Nobody should have to die for crossing the street."
