BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Melissa Wright near 30th and Tucker where neighbors are contacting city and state officials, asking for a solution to the speeding in the area.
I was told that a traffic light at this intersection is unwarranted… however… business owners in this are believe some sort of additional traffic calming could be safer.
Neighbors here want to see something change after watching a car fly into the playground of this daycare center. In fact, i had interviewed Jacque Casey about traffic safety on 30th street just a week before this crash.
"It's time to stop talking, it's time to get something done...when we talked about the other day, its almost pathetic how we said its not if but when it was two weeks prior on one of the interview you had done," said Casey.
Casey says for years, she's asked officials to make her neighborhood safe by adding street lights at this intersection.
Paulette Genthon, who owns the Universial College of Healing Arts, down the street from the daycare says since the crash she's began reaching back out to officials as well.
"If they're at 60 hours a mile, I've witnessed near misses for those children and its really frightening to see that," said Genthon.
On Wednesday, I reached out to Omaha city council president, Pete Festersen to ask him about potential solutions, like traffic calming devices.
He tells me because 30th street is designed as highway 75 traffic calming devices like speed bumps are not allowed.
But he did tell me, he's asked the police department to patrol the area for speeders and that a digital speed sign will also be installed.
Locals want a streetlight but city officials tell me a light may not solve the problem and could make traffic worse.
"You cannot out a price on your citizens safety, you cannot do that… that should be priority one… every situation," said Casey.
The MAPA completed in 2023 identifies five different options to making this area safer. However, there's a catch.
I'm told city cannot make changes to 30th street because it's designated as a highway. In order for the city to make adjustments to the road the designated highway corridor must be changed. The city says if the highway coridor were changed, it would look to reduce lanes as a way of slowing traffic.
I reached out to NDOT to ask about this situation and the highway corridor designation and have not received a response yet.
In north Omaha, I'm Melissa Wright.
