Speed tables to be installed around VCU campus after student was hit and killed

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - What will be a week since the death of Shawn Soares, a VCU student who was hit by a car off of West Main Street while walking from class, the city of Richmond will be installing speed tables around Monroe Park campus.

As the semester comes to a close, students say it’s about time.

”Cars tend to like run reds and stuff, and there is a lot of speeding and accidents here, so I am very wary when I cross the street,” Isaac Lyu, a student, said.

Speed tables will be installed on different sections of roads from Belvedere to Harrison streets to slow down traffic.

Some students feel while it’s not a permanent fix, those new bumps in the road will help.

”Especially down this road, people tend to like to stop and speed a lot, so I feel like having a speed bump could help control the speeding going on around here,” Pratham Choksi, a student, said.

While others want to see more improvements around all high pedestrian traffic areas.

”In areas where there is a lot of traffic like these crosswalks or, you know, where students may pass through to get to campus,” Lyu said.

Monday night, during an informal meeting, city councilwoman Katherine Jordan said more improvements are on the way to the section of road where Soares was hit and killed.

”There are bump outs coming from Belvidere to Arthur Ashe Blvd on Main Street,” Jordan said. “Now, that does not help east of the boulevard, and it does not help when you get hit by a car that is not a car anymore.”

A traffic study is also being conducted around VCU’s main campus, with results expected to be released by July 1. City council members want to see even more action taken.

”My answer of what would help avoid this, let’s make Main Street and Cary Street two-way streets,” Councilman Andreas Addison said. “Let’s make them be with a bunch of traffic lights. Let’s make them be about calming our cars around campus.”

Speed tables will be installed on Main, West Cary, West Grace, and West Franklin streets throughout May.

The installation will cause the roads to be closed during parts of the day.

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