ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Wednesday set his sights on an ambitious but long-held goal: ending all pedestrian deaths in the city.
Tuerk joined a slew of officials, including U.S. Rep. Susan Wild — fresh off her win in an uncontested Democratic primary Tuesday — and city Police Chief Charles Roca, outside Lehigh & New England Railroad Station on Hanover Avenue.
There, they announced the launch of the city’s Safe Streets for All project, through which officials will try to establish a comprehensive strategy to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
“This has been a concern for me for a very long time. I believe that we all have a right to move safely through our city.”Mayor Matt Tuerk
More than 4,000 crashes were reported in 2023 on Allentown roads, including 136 that involved pedestrians, according to statistics provided by the city.
Five pedestrians were killed last year, and a dozen others were seriously injured, those stats show.
“This has been a concern for me for a very long time,” Tuerk said, sharing memories of two friends who were killed by vehicles in Philadelphia.
“I believe that we all have a right to move safely through our city.”
The Safe Streets for All project is funded by a $312,000 grant from the U.S. Transportation Department, which a steering committee will use to analyze streets’ safety and develop a “holistic approach” and “roadmap for safety improvements.”
City officials are asking residents to help craft the Safe Streets for All plan.
Residents can complete an online survey and "pinpoint locations, roads, intersections [and] walkways that need improvements," Allentown Communications Manager Genesis Ortega said.
Residents' help on the Safe Streets for All plan "is critical for the city," Ortega said.
Officials also are set to collect feedback at eight meetings this year.
Each death ‘a stark reminder': Mayor
The push to enhance pedestrian safety was reignited after Dieruff High School paraprofessional Angela Yowakim was hit and killed by a vehicle near the school in September 2022, Tuerk said Wednesday.
Angela Yowakim's “death was a stark reminder of the ongoing dangers that we face in the streets of the city of Allentown."Mayor Matt Tuerk
Yowakim’s death “was a huge loss, and it was felt across our community,” Tuerk said. He said many thought of her as “an angel of [Allentown’s] Syrian/Arab community.”
Though the driver who hit and killed Yowakim, 25, was “following the rules,” the fatal crash made it clear to officials “that something needed to change” around pedestrian safety, Tuerk said.
“Angela's death gave me a renewed sense of urgency that we needed to do something to make our city’s streets safer for all,” he said.
“Angela’s death was a stark reminder of the ongoing dangers that we face in the streets of the city of Allentown. It spurred action, reinforcing a commitment to radically transform our city's approach to road safety.”
“It's not just a plan; It's a promise on our behalf to protect every resident.”
The mayor on Wednesday thanked local, state and federal officials for understanding the urgency and finding funding for the project.
He said he was speaking with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in October 2023 when he learned of a fatal hit-and-run crash on Union Boulevard that killed an 85-year-old man.
The need for a Safe Streets for All program again was underscored two weeks ago when 15-year-old Emmanuel Gboyah, a Trexler Middle School student, was hit and killed while trying to cross MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township, Tuerk said.
‘The Curve of Death’
Tuerk said he chose to announce the project’s launch along Hanover Avenue because “this place has a reputation” as a dangerous road.
Residents who watched the news conference Wednesday called it the “Hanover Racetrack,” while some city employees have coined the area near the old railroad station "The Curve of Death,” Tuerk said.
“We are going to change the way that we travel through the city of Allentown because it's going to make our community safer for everybody."Mayor Matt Tuerk
But that area is just one of many that need significant safety improvements, which could include enhanced traffic enforcement by police, reduced speed limits and redesigned roadways with traffic-calming measures, according to the mayor.
“There's times … in Allentown where I have felt anything but safe in walking and in biking,” he said.
Tuerk made a plea Wednesday for all motorists who use the city’s streets to slow down, embrace the new project and “commit to making Allentown safer for all.”
“We are going to change the way that we travel through the city of Allentown because it's going to make our community safer for everybody,” he said.
