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Pedestrian Safety The Focus of Lake Avenue Event

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A Rochester man was killed Monday when he was trying to cross Lake Avenue.  Police say the pedestrian had stepped out in front of an approaching motorcycle in the 300 block of Lake Avenue when he was struck. 

This is just the latest in a series of deadly accidents on one of the most heavily traveled roads in the city.

Wednesday afternoon, elected leaders, Rochester police, neighbors and business owners walked a portion of Lake Avenue near Monday's accident and talked about pedestrian safety.

"We want to see this as a teachable moment,” said City Councilmember Molly Clifford. “There was a really tragic incident on Monday. Let's try to use that to prevent that from happening again."

Clifford said they're focusing on the behavior of drivers, walkers and bicyclists.                   

"Given that we have a high rise, a number of apartment buildings and a number of businesses along there, there's a lot going on and unfortunately it sets up a dangerous situation there."

There has been a lot of focus on the past in traffic enforcement and speeding, according to Clifford, but she says pedestrians should also remember to cross safely at intersections.

"We do hope that the state will hear our concerns and work with us on some additional signage and crosswalk issues,” she said. “The city has been good about cutting the trees around our lights to make sure that it's as lit as much as possible in the evenings. We want to focus on driver behavior, but we also want to focus on pedestrian and bicyclist behavior."

A number of refugees have settled in the Northwest quadrant of the city, and the Lake Avenue Baptists Church is working with them to help with any potential language barriers. Clifford said individuals who are not native English speakers may have difficulty reading traffic signs and understanding traffic and pedestrian rules.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.