In what\u2019s being referred to as a “preventable tragedy,” Point Lomans have started a petition drive to close Ca\u00f1on Street between Talbot Street and Catalina Boulevard in the wake of a March 2 early-morning accident in which a father and his child in a stroller were struck by an SUV.
\nThe accident left the infant dead and the man hospitalized with serious head trauma. The mother, who was with them, witnessed the accident but was unharmed.
\nThe accident happened at Ca\u00f1on Street and Catalina Boulevard in the La Playa neighborhood around 6:25 a.m.
\nThe father, a man in his mid-30s, was pushing his baby, 7-month-old Juniper Aavang, in a stroller when they were hit by the SUV traveling north on Catalina Boulevard as it turned onto northeast-bound Ca\u00f1on Street.
\nUpon impact, the pair went flying at least 50 feet, police said.
\nThe man was taken to Sharp Hospital with a serious head injury. The infant, who was knocked unconscious, was taken to Rady Children\u2019s Hospital where she later succumbed from her injuries.
\nPolice said the 47-year-old man in a Chevy Suburban that struck the father and his child, stopped and tried to help them. He is cooperating with the investigation. Alcohol is not believed to have been a factor.
\nMore than 1,000 people have already supported the updated petition on www.change.org, which requests that Canon Street be closed between Talbot Street and Catalina Boulevard.
\nThe online petition requests a reconfiguration of the intersection of Catalina and Canon. It states: “In order to accommodate the local residents, there will be an entrance and exit to Southernwood Way with a light at Catalina Boulevard, making the intersection usable by residents only. This will eliminate all traffic speeding north on Catalina Boulevard from ever turning west (right) onto Ca\u00f1on Street and into Point Loma residential neighborhoods.”
\nIn a letter to Second District Councilmember Lorie Zapf, Point Lomans who are signing the online petition call upon Zapf to “make the intersection of Catalina Boulevard and Ca\u00f1on Street residential-only.”
\nOn the day of the tragic accident, Councilmember Zapf asked staff to begin studying that intersection and the surrounding area for any changes that the city could make to improve pedestrian safety, said Alexandra Bell, director of communications for Zapf. “She has made this intersection one of her top priorities, even speaking to Mayor Faulconer about it personally,” Bell said.
\nThe traffic study will take into account factors like visibility, speed, and the number of vehicle trips at different periods in the day. We hope to have the results of that study soon, and will review all potential options before moving forward. We have also passed along the proposal made by the community to close that street, and have asked traffic engineers look into that as well. The petition contends this intersection has plagued the nearby residential, family-oriented Point Loma neighborhood for years. It notes residents “have pleaded with the city and local authorities to remedy the situation, yet their concerns have remain unheard.”
\nAlso noted in the petition is 2014 census data showing 17 percent of Point Lomans are aged 18 and under, and that 28 percent of the community\u2019s households have children. Additionally, there are 453 children attending nearby Sunset View Elementary. If the petition drive is successful, supporters say the unused section of Ca\u00f1on Street would be converted into green space which could become a small memorial community park, “where all San Diego families can once again enjoy a safe corner of the Point Loma community. Juniper’s relatives were born and raised in Point Loma. They still live in our community. This tragedy could have befallen any of our local families. Please keep our community safe and support making the intersection of Catalina Boulevard and Ca\u00f1on Street an extension of Southernwood Way, thereby making it usable to residents-only.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In what\u2019s being referred to as a “preventable tragedy,” Point Lomans have started a petition drive to close Ca\u00f1on Street between Talbot Street and Catalina Boulevard in the wake of a March 2 early-morning accident in which a father and his child in a stroller were struck by an SUV. The accident left the infant […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":268320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Residents start petition drive to close Ca\u00f1on and Catalina intersection in Point Loma","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}