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The state Department of Transportation has placed caution signs at the intersection of Broadway and South Parkway, where a fatal accident occurred Sept. 11, 2024. The state plans upgrades to guide motorists through the intersection and keep pedestrians safe.

Grand Island: Town, school to discuss traffic safety

Fri, Mar 28th 2025 11:00 am

Article and Photo by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

The grandfather of Leah Mayer, the eighth-grader killed in a traffic accident Sept. 11 near Kaegebein Elementary School, is advocating for greater safety measures at the intersection of Broadway and South Parkway where the accident occurred.

Bill Daniels said caution signs the state placed along Broadway near the parkway are insufficient to safely guide traffic and protect pedestrians near Kaegebein.

South Parkway is a state road and New York has jurisdiction. Although the state has pledged safety upgrades after its recent traffic study of the intersection, Daniels said he fears it won’t be enough.

The Dispatch asked Daniels what he believes is needed there. His answer: “For the safety of everybody that passes through there, a four-way stop.”

He said he would be satisfied if the state changes the current amber light to red, which means motorists would come to a full stop.

Daniels said safety near schools is one of the topics that will be discussed this Monday at a joint meeting of the Town Board and the School Board. The public meeting, to discuss problems that are common to both boards, will take place at 7 p.m. inside Grand Island High School’s Professional Development Room.

Daniels received an update Feb. 11 on the state Department of Transportation’s investigation of the intersection where the fatal accident occurred. The town, which had requested the study after the Sept 11 crash, was apprised of the same report.

The state considered five years of crash data at the site, from April 2019 through March 2024. It also included in its analysis the fatal accident and a second crash that happened there less than three weeks later, in which three people were hurt when a motorcycle and car collided.

As a result of the review, the state will add signs and pavement markings at the intersection. The upgrade also will establish a 40-mph speed limit on a section of the parkway starting from 1/3-mile south of Broadway and extending north to the I-190 interchange ramps.

Daniels said he talked about the traffic study with Brian Kirby, regional traffic engineer for the state Department of Transportation. He said Kirby told him the state would do some changes in the configuration of the intersection. “But he said there’s no money for a four-way stop,” Daniels said, noting state lawmakers are still working on this year’s budget.

Daniels said there is strong support for changes to the intersection. Since the fatal accident, more than 2,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to install a traffic light and crossing signals there.

Also, Erie County Legislator Michael Kooshoian planned to submit at Thursday’s legislature meeting a resolution urging the state DOT to consider a four-way stop at Broadway and the parkway. It reads, in part: “Resolved that six reported crashes and the death of a 13-year-old Erie County resident should warrant more than just a reduction in speed limits, additional signage and proposed upgrades of trail crossings at this intersection.”

Kooshoian also said in his resolution “that on behalf of Leah’s family and the residents of Grand Island, I urge New York state’s Department of Transportation to reconsider the installation of a four way stop.”

Daniels thanked Town Supervisor Peter Marston, Deputy Supervisor Thomas Digati and Highway Superintendent Richard Crawford for advocating for the DOT safety study.

Marston said he has empathy for what Daniels has experienced.

“I have the utmost respect for him, his family,” he said. “Their loss is unimaginable.”

Marston said he is encouraged by the state DOT response to the safety issue at Broadway and South Parkway.

“We did get a return plan from them, and they plan on making some small, but substantial upgrades. They are going to change how the crosswalks work and a couple other things,” Marston said. “Keep in mind that Beaver Island (parkway) is a state road. … We can only suggest; we have no jurisdiction with anything they do. They have traffic engineers. We are not traffic engineers; we are users” of the road.

“They are making some pretty substantial changes to the crosswalks, and with that, they are going to create a lot of snow maintenance issues, because it’s going to be a lot harder to clear and keep open in the winter. During a snow event, they’re going to be very labor-intensive.”

Marston said that, in heavy snow, crosswalks would have to be cleared with equipment greater than a residential snow blower. The state’s new plan has crosswalks that will go out onto triangular pedestrian islands and turn on them.

“Pedestrian sanctuaries, they call them,” he said.

“There’s going to be an area there that’s getting plowed from every direction – we have to cut a tunnel through it in a major snow event. I want to start a discussion with the school regarding maintenance of that because it is a remote location for us. We certainly can’t plow it with a plow truck.”

Marston said the equipment would have to be something similar to an earthmover with a snowblower on it.

“I think between the school and us, we need to have a joint plan on how we’re going to handle this,” he said.

His reason for putting the issue on the joint meeting agenda was to understand potentially what the school district could do to help and what the town can do “so we can all be on the same page.”

Grand Island School Superintendent Dr. Brian Graham provided a draft agenda for Monday’s joint meeting between the two boards. Topping the list is the intersection near Kaegebein School.