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Man crossing through construction zone hit by driver, killed; neighbors criticize DC Water for risk to pedestrians

"I'm livid," Joe Bishop-Henchman, an ANC commissioner for the area, said.

WASHINGTON — Angry neighbors are demanding the city do much more to ensure pedestrian safety after a 66-year-old man was hit and killed walking through a construction site on Rhode Island Avenue, Northeast.

Neighbors had been tweeting and reaching out to DC Water, warning the agency that there was no safe way to negotiate the sidewalk under the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro Station, just hours before James Timothy Tarrants was killed. DC Water has been working on the Northeast Boundary tunnel for months, closing the sidewalk on the north side of Rhode Island Avenue. 

A preliminary investigation found that around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, a 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser was traveling westbound in the 600 block of Rhode Island Avenue Northeast,  near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station. Police said Tarrants, of NW DC, crossed through the construction zone and between moving traffic in the middle of the block. As he entered the westbound lane, he was struck by the PT Cruiser. 

Police said Tarrants was pronounced dead on the scene after all life-saving efforts failed. The driver remained on the scene of the crash, according to police

On Thursday, it took WUSA9 just minutes to capture more pedestrians walking through a forest of traffic cones and out into moving traffic. 

"The way it is right now, it's confusing," said 75-year-old James Bowen, after wheeling a laundry cart across the street. 

Bowen was walking from the laundromat, but said he couldn't figure out how to get there without dodging through four lanes of speeding vehicles on Rhode Island Avenue. He added that when you're walking between the pillars of the underpass, "you don't see the cars and the cars don't see you." 

With the sidewalk closed, if walkers miss the first detour sign, they end up funneled into a chute and dumped out onto a cross walk that's only marked halfway across the street.

"Right now, it's pretty unsafe for people like me walking to their car, to their garage," said a Howard University student named Lauryn, who also crossed through traffic in the middle of the block. "Hopefully they can fix it soon." 

A tweet Wednesday afternoon just hours before the crash occurred said that the construction project left "no safe accommodation" for pedestrians. The poster of the tweet declined an interview with WUSA9

"I'm livid," Joe Bishop-Henchman, an ANC commissioner for the area, said. "It would be one thing if it was, 'Oh, we didn't know. Things happen. They knew, people were telling agencies all day yesterday, 'Something bad is going to happen here.' And unfortunately, that's what happened."

Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker told WUSA9 he was in the process of adding safety reinforcements to the area. 

"This is an avoidable tragedy," Parker wrote in an email to WUSA9. "Vision Zero requires us to hold DC agencies and contractors accountable to laws requiring safe accommodations for pedestrians due to construction. I’ve already started following up on needed enforcement on Rhode Island Ave and across Ward 5, and improving traffic safety throughout the ward remains one of my top priorities."

DC Water released a statement to WUSA9: 

"DC Water is aware of a pedestrian fatality that occurred Wednesday evening on Rhode Island Avenue, near a construction site for the Northeast Boundary Tunnel Project. We are saddened by the loss of life and extend our deepest sympathies to the victim’s family. At this time, we are still gathering information about the exact location and the circumstances of the crash. Our preliminary review indicates that the maintenance of traffic measures and pedestrian detours were implemented in accordance with the approved permits. In addition, we will work with DDOT to determine if there are additional measures that can be taken to enhance safety for pedestrians in that location."

Investigators are asking anyone who may have additional information about this crash to contact them at 202-727-9099 or text the department's tip line at 50411. 

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