VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The City of Virginia Beach is collecting public input on how to make the roads safer.
Residents are asked to fill out a survey to help them identify areas that need safety improvements. It’s part of the "Local Road Safety Action Plan."
Thursday evening, a handful of concerned citizens gathered at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library for an open house on the topic.
Virginia Beach resident Frank Cubillo attended the open house to voice his concerns over a specific intersection near his home: Belspring Drive and South Independence.
“There’s been accidents there and we’re very concerned about the pedestrians. Also, we have a school there… a large elementary school, Glenwood Elementary," Cubillo explained.
From 2018 to 2022, 320 crashes involved pedestrians, according to Virginia Beach City data. During that same period, there were 470 crashes in school zones.
But Cubillo isn’t the only resident to voice concerns about a specific area.
“It’s a significant traffic issue throughout the city, but particularly in the Shore Drive corridor,” said resident Daniel Murphy.
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data shows just this year, there were three pedestrian-involved crashes on Shore Drive, one of which ended with a fatality.
“I hope that we actually see some action on these throughout the city... because safety is the biggest priority, I think within all of our communities," Murphy said.
Additionally, DMV data shows Virginia Beach has the most pedestrian-involved crashes in all of Hampton Roads so far this year. The database shows 70 pedestrian-involved crashes in Virginia Beach, with nine fatalities. You can find the full breakdown of pedestrian-involved crashes this year below:
- Accomack County: 5
- Chesapeake City: 19
- Franklin City: 4
- Gloucester County: 0
- Hampton City: 29
- Isle of Wight County: 2
- James City County: 10
- Matthews County: 0
- Newport News City: 39
- Norfolk City: 60
- Portsmouth City: 16
- Suffolk City: 12
- Virginia Beach City: 70
- Williamsburg: 3
- York County: 12
If you missed Thursday's open house, you can still take the safety survey online. You can find it by clicking here.