Teen hit, injured on Chippewa as city officials hear new proposal to create Department of Transporation
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - St. Louis City’s Charter Commission recently gave recommendations for amending the city’s governing document, including a proposal to streamline how St. Louis City manages some of its most dangerous roads.
St. Louis Metropolitan police (SLMPD) said on July 17, a car hit a teenager who was riding his bike at Chippewa and Pennsylvania. Kierra Hester says the victim was her 13-year-old son, Damarion Hester, 13.
“He’s doing alright, but he’s still in pain though,” said Kierra Hester. “I thought maybe dead or something. I was scared, I was flying like I was like, ‘oh my God my son just got hit.”
She says it’s one thing to hear about pain, but seeing the scars on her son is almost unbearable.
“I had to turn back around because they were like ‘your son got hit and he landed in the middle of the street of Chippewa and Pennsylvania,” said Hester.
She says the driver ran a stop sign and hit her son who was cycling. She says her son was in the hospital and left with a broken arm and deep scars on his back.
According to Trailnet, the latest numbers show from 2017-2021 there have been 45 crashes along Chippewa’s most dangerous section. Trailnet says failure to yield is the biggest violation.
St. Louis’s Charter Commission sent a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen to merge city departments to form a Department of Transportation.
Currently, three are separate departments from planning, streets, and public service.
Trailnet s the idea.
“Trailnet believes that having one department in charge of the city’s infrastructure allows all residents and businesses the ability to communicate, ask questions, submit repair requests, and engage in efforts to improve the infrastructure needs of our city,” wrote Cindey Mense, CEO of Trailnet.
Hester says she doesn’t care how the city makes the streets safer, she just wants improvements made now.
“Lights right there, speed bumps or something or cameras that can see,” said Hester.
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