Pedestrian death prompts calls for Langley Township to take action

People in a Langley neighbourhood are calling for the Township to take action after a pedestrian who was hit by a car along 64th Avenue near 258th Street died of her injuries.

Christie Wengranowski lives near where the woman was hit on Sept. 14. She tells CityNews traffic calming is needed to prevent further tragedy along the road.

“The area that’s become a really big problem is between 264th and 256th (streets). So there’s a stretch of 64th Avenue and it’s quite often used as a secondary freeway,” Wengranowski explained.

Christie Wengranowski driving in the area where a pedestrian was fatally struck in Langley Township last week. (Sarah Chew, CityNews)

She says some people will drive upwards of 100 kilometres per hour at times on that stretch, posing even more of a risk to the people using the route or living in the area.

“The last time we had an accident, I spoke to the firefighters at the scene and said, ‘What can we do as a community to get some change here?'” Wengranowski recalled.

“There have been fatalities over the years. Most of the time they’re bumps and bruises, and there’s been obviously some serious stuff. So we’re getting sick, as a community, of listening to people go ripping down that street. Kids have to walk 256 (Street) to get the bus and that’s now become a giant fear for their parents.”

Related article: Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Langley, alcohol believed to be a factor, RCMP says

The 24-year-old who was killed last week was hit just after 7 p.m. Thursday. When officers arrived, police said paramedics and fire crews “were providing emergency first aid.”

Despite their efforts, the woman did not survive.

According to the Langley RCMP, the driver of the vehicle — a 2018 BMW — stayed at the scene, and is cooperating with the investigation. While the cause of the collision is still being investigated, police have said “alcohol is believed to have been a contributing factor.”

A Langley neighbourhood is voicing concerns after a pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle last week. (Sarah Chew, CityNews)

Wengranowski says the first thing she did the day after the crash was call the Township to raise her concerns. She tells CityNews she was able to get through to the engineering department.

“I told them what had happened and they walked me through a series of questions and asked me what I thought would help. A good start, in my mind, is to get either a full traffic light or a proper four-way stop at 256th and 264th (streets). That would, in my mind, eliminate a good chunk of accidents,” she explained.

“In addition to that, putting some sort of traffic calming between 264th and 256th (streets) would also be ideal just to prevent people from speeding down — everybody’s in such a hurry.”

The woman says she was told by engineers that speed bumps aren’t an option for that stretch of road, though she wasn’t able to elaborate.

Regardless, Wengranowski says anything the Township can do to calm traffic in the area “will greatly improve everybody’s safety in that area.”

“Everybody is shocked. The girl who passed away on Thursday was 24 years old and her life was just about to begin,” Wengranowski said.

“She was about to make some really big, exciting moves in her life and that got taken away. The kids on our street right now are teenagers, most of them, and 24 is not that much older than them, really, in the grand scheme of things. So the kids are feeling nervous and the parents are feeling nervous.

“We’ve learned, just the other day, that even being responsible and taking a walk on a street like that where people are driving insanely, it puts kids at risk,” she added.

The incident has even prompted changes to school bus pick up around the neighbourhood. Wengranowski says parents contacted bus drivers, who have “already made the switch to pick them up at the end of 258th Street now.”

Wengranowski admits concerns levels are “really high right now, for everybody.”

CityNews has reached out to the Township of Langley for comment.