Give pedestrians a chance

Anything Carson City can do to help pedestrians get around town is welcome, but two projects planned by the Regional Transportation Commission have special significance.

One - a lighted crosswalk between the city library and community center - has a personal meaning to us at the Nevada Appeal.

It has been two years since Brenda Jarman's life was cut short by a drunken driver at that crosswalk on her way to watch Fourth of July fireworks with her family. Brenda had worked for the Nevada Appeal, so it was one of those tragic news stories that pierced our own hearts because we knew her well.

We don't have to imagine the grief felt by families of pedestrians cut down in Carson City's crosswalks.

We don't have to wonder at the risks people take just trying to cross the streets, because another of our employees, Carolyn Grey, was seriously injured at Washington and Stewart streets earlier this year.

In fact, we suspect that most Carson City residents know personally someone who has been struck - or very nearly struck - while walking.

While city officials continue to do more - the flashing lights along the crosswalk, similar to those at Reno-Tahoe International Airport are an innovation not seen in many cities - the responsibility still lies with the motorists.

The second planned improvement, a sidewalk along Highway 395 from Colorado Street to Stewart Street, is also sorely needed. We see people walking in the dirt alongside the busy highway everyday, and too often we see people walking along the shoulder of the road itself.

The lack of a sidewalk along most of that route simply encourages people to take risks they shouldn't have to take.