CHENEY, Wash. – For many years, community members in Cheney have raised concerns about a crosswalk at 1st Street and College Hill Street, where a pedestrian was struck in a hit-and-run incident on Oct. 5.
Locally, it is known as 1st Street, but it’s also State Route 904, which falls under the responsibility of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
“It’s not marked very well. It’s very old. And a lot of people have a very hard time crossing it,” Amber Hansen, a Cheney resident, said.
Hansen has been voicing concerns about the crosswalk to City leaders for the past year.
She told NonStop Local that City leaders have shared her concerns, but told her it is really out of their hands, because WSDOT is responsible for the road, and thus, the crosswalk.
“I do delivery. I do Uber, Doordash and Instacart. So, I’m driving around a lot. And I see this is a very common theme. People are scared to cross. And I guess recently someone got hit there, which is very sad,” Hansen said.
The most recent issue is the hit-and-run, but WSDOT told NonStop Local they are aware of another incident where someone was hit in November of 2023.
Cheney Police told NonStop Local there was at least one other pedestrian hit prior to 2021.
Bob Shannon lives in the neighborhood and told NonStop Local that he was hit in his wheelchair in 2022.
“There are many, many people in wheelchairs who cross there and they go slow. And the cars… [are] going fast…There needs to be some sort of overhead-light warning that there’s a crosswalk there,” Shannon said.
Cheney Police Chief Richard Beghtol told NonStop Local the department first began voicing concerns, in conversation, to WSDOT a few years ago. Beghtol voiced that he thinks the community would benefit from a crosswalk with flashing lights or more markings.
“It was a concern prior to, I think, 2018. 2019. We had some communication with [WSDOT] and they are the ones that actually installed the crosswalk sign there,” Chief Beghtol said.
Two crosswalk signs were all that could be added to the crosswalk.
NonStop Local visited the crosswalk Wednesday and could see the signs and the white markings on the road. The white paint was faded on many of the lines.
WSDOT told NonStop Local there’s certain factors that determine which roads get flashing or lighted crosswalks.
For red-flashing signs, WSDOT said there would need to be 20 pedestrians per hour crossing the road.
For yellow-flashing signs, there is no threshold, but WSDOT said there has not been enough accidents at 1st/College Hill crosswalk to warrant the flashing signs.
A spokesperson for WSDOT said that there is also a huge backlog of maintenance in the region, and across the state, and that ultimately, due to budgeting restrictions, the agency does not have the funds to fix everything.
They added that in 2030, WSDOT is looking at repaving the crosswalk. Which, in a larger SR 904 project, would bring flashing lights and a concrete island.
In the meantime, WSDOT said the white markings, at the very least, need to be repainted.
