CINCINNATI — Concerned neighbors in College Hill joined together in hopes of sending a message to drivers in their area.
A group traveled Hamilton Street Thursday night, spending around 30 minutes walking the crosswalks as one. Participants said crossing the street is a nightmare.
"Speeding is a huge concern," McKenna Stahl said. "The speed limit is 25 miles per hour and you see people flying through."
Frances Gilbert, who has lived in College Hill for decades, said the crosswalks have been unsafe for a long time. Since 2013, there have been 73 pedestrian crashes in the neighborhood. There are typically about six to 10 each year.
"Somehow we don't realize that the car is a killing machine," Gilbert said. "Distraction, that's what I noticed — most of the time people on their phone, it could be people listening to the radio."
Resident Kay Crawford said the speeding still seems to be getting worse.
"It's kind of scary," Crawford said. "I've never been as afraid as I was today crossing Hamilton."
College Hill Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Group has been doing these walks for months. This time, CPD District 5 officers joined them to show their support.
"The first time we probably had five or six and now we're consistently seeing 25 to 40 people show up," Stahl said. "It's really good to have police presence here, so that they know that this issue is important to us and that they're more aware that we're trying to get changes made."
The group then walked to Brink Brewery for a fundraiser for the community safety group.
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