The Georgia Department of Transportation is hoping that new pedestrian crossings will help make a dangerous northwest Atlanta street more safe.
Three new pedestrian crossings will be installed over the next year along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, with one of them being near where 14-year-old Jermaine “JJ” Wallace Jr. was hit and killed last year, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Wallace, a ninth grade student at Douglass High School, was waiting for a school bus Sept. 6 when the deadly incident took place, AJC.com previously reported.
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Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
“His death is extremely unfortunate, especially for those of us who’ve been working to get a safe crossing here for a number of years,” GDOT district engineer Kathy Zahul told Channel 2.
The crossings will be high-intensity activated crosswalks (also known as HAWK signals), which allow pedestrians to press a button to activate flashing lights when walking, Zahul said. Those lights cycle between solid red lights, solid yellow lights and flashing yellow lights.
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Following Wallace’s death, GDOT engineers reevaluated that segment of the street, which was near Center Hill Park, Channel 2 reported. As a result, the agency will add three HAWK signals in the area.
An Atlanta woman, 32-year-old Antoinette Monique Peters, was later arrested and charged in connection with Wallace’s death. She was charged with three misdemeanors in late September after authorities completed a speed analysis on the deadly incident.
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Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
The analysis found that she was driving her Chevrolet Camaro between 62 and 65 mph in the 35-mph zone when she hit the child, who was crossing the street about 8 a.m., according to Atlanta police. She stayed at the scene to speak with investigators.
Peters’ case is still pending, and she faces counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, speeding and driving with an expired license plate, Fulton County court records show. She was previously released from jail on a $80,500 bond.
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