Gregory Bateman Jr, a 12-year old boy died, Friday, September 21, 2018, after leaving the new Broad Creek Library, while crossing Princess Anne Road. Gregory was struck by a truck.

A year ago, I sent an email to the principle of Richard Bowling Elementary about getting speed humps placed in the Broad Creek neighborhood to reduce the speeding that occurs in the neighborhood. Now, I want to take it a step further and get a traffic light placed at the intersections of Princess Anne Road and Majestic Ave, Kenton Ave (no crosswalks) and Norchester Ave.

My fear a year ago has happened and now I need the city involved. It is important to keep our residents safe while leaving and returning to places such as the library and school. No parent should have to deal with the sudden death of a child. As residents of the community and city, it is our duty to keep all children safe.

By installing the traffic light, we can increase both traffic control and traffic calming for the safety of all pedestrians, drivers and residents. In doing this, we can decrease the number of accidents at the intersection, allowing the flow of traffic to be smooth and regulated when both entering and exiting the neighborhood. If we fail to do this, there is a chance that another child could lose their life. We can prevent that.

This is a call to action to make our neighborhood safe with the installation and placement of a street light so that another life isn't taken. On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 7pm., 810 Union Street Norfolk, VA 23510, 11th floor. I will speak at the city council meeting again to address the need for action concerning the dangerous traffic problem.

We need your support. Your physical attendance at this meeting is critical! We need representatives from the entire Broad Creek Community, including Richard Bowling, SCEP, Franklin Arms, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and all concerned citizens, we want to see you there!

For further information, please contact Leticia Latham (757) 367-4656.

 Thank you,