The family of a teenager who was killed crossing MacDade Boulevard is asking Ridley to support improvements

Holding a photo of her 17-year-old grandson, who was killed in the MacDade Boulevard crossing in April, Suzanne de Seife and other family members pleaded with Ridley Township commissioners to reconsider rejecting a $3.4 million road improvement project in that stretch.

“It can be done,” she said. “It can be creative. It can save a life.”

De Seife and other members of Damien Hocker’s family and community members addressed county commissioners at their Nov. 20 meeting, urging them to reconsider PennDOT’s $3.4 million federally funded MacDade Boulevard safety improvement project. The municipality rejected it in July and it has been shelved since then.

“I’m here on behalf of my son,” Doug Hocker told commissioners, adding that he believed they wanted to make the town safer. “You want to be on the right side of history.”

While Damien’s dad and grandmother stood before city commissioners, his mom, Elizabeth Hocker, was in Washington, D.C., meeting with U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5, of Swarthmore, and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. In September, de Seife asked the Delaware County Council to designate October as Pedestrian Safety Month.

“We are trying to prevent another loss of life on MacDade Boulevard in Ridley, where literally dozens of children pass through here every day,” de Seife said.

At the November city commissioners meeting, another city resident said there were 159 crashes on MacDade Boulevard in 2023, with 81 resulting in injury and 10 resulting in serious injury or death.

According to PennDOT, several sections along a 5.4-mile stretch of MacDade Boulevard in Ridley Township and Glenolden have been identified as high-intensity crash sites as part of a statewide list of major crash sites. From January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016, there were 439 reported crashes on the MacDade Route from Fairview Road to Ashland Avenue. Of these, 186 were angled collisions and 129 were rear-end collisions.

Improvements have been made to MacDade Boulevard in Glenolden, including reducing traffic flow from four lanes to two. PennDOT did not move forward with the Ridley portion of the project after city officials expressed concerns from residents.

“If they had implemented this plan, would Damien be alive today?” – asked de Seife. “We don’t know. The only thing we can do right now is to prevent this from happening to anyone else.”

The MacDade Boulevard safety improvement project would cover MacDade Boulevard from Fairview Road in Ridley Township to Grays Avenue in Glenolden.

This would include a road diet of MacDade Boulevard from Woodcrest Road to Grays Avenue; adding exclusive left-turn lanes at four intersections; adding five exclusive right-turn lanes at five intersections, including the one with Fairview Road; changes in left turn phasing at most signalized intersections; and modernization of signals along the boulevard.

“These countermeasures will target the high frequency of angled collisions and rear-end collisions in the corridor, ultimately reducing fatal and injury crashes,” said PennDOT spokesman Brad E. Rudolph, adding that the signals would be connected to PennDOT’s Regional Traffic Management Center to enable a reduction in the impact time of emergencies/incidents by improving incident detection and response.

However, on July 17, City Manager Ridley Joseph Ryan sent an email to PennDOT requesting that the Fairview Road to South Avenue Highway Safety Improvement Program corridor project be canceled due to negative public feedback and the cancellation of the scheduled public hearing. for August.

State Rep. Leanne Krueger, D-161, of Nether Providence, helped organize a public meeting scheduled for Aug. 27 to discuss the proposed project.

She said Ryan’s July 17 email to PennDOT noted numerous phone calls and in-person contacts made with commissioners and borough staff, as well as 300 comments on social media opposing the improvements.

“At this point, the ball is in Ridley Township’s court because the PennDOT project was ongoing and then in July the township manager requested in writing to cancel the meeting and cancel the project,” Krueger said. “I think it would be helpful to have a public meeting where people can come forward and express their opinions.”

If the project were to move forward now, the state has its own requirements from the municipality.

“The department is not aware of any requests by city officials to reassess the MacDade Corridor or propose other comprehensive solutions,” Rudolph said. “If a municipality wishes to re-initiate the (Road Safety Improvement Project), a written request must be submitted to the department demonstrating the unwavering support of the commissioners and a resolution of the municipality supporting the scope of the Road Safety Improvement Program. Upon receipt of such documentation, the department will evaluate the feasibility of restarting the project under a financially constrained safety program.

Krueger said she, state Sen. Tim Kearney, D-26, of Swarthmore, and state Rep. Dave Delloso, D-162, of Ridley Park, met with Hocker’s dad, mother and grandmother and discussed immediate safety regulations at MacDade Boulevard and Fairview Road and pedestrian safety issues across the country.

“There was already a project in the works,” Krueger said. “The fastest way to improve safety on MacDade Boulevard would be to allow the PennDOT project to move forward.”

She explained that since the municipality would be responsible for maintaining any improvements made in her municipality, the state would need their approval to proceed with such a project.

“I am grateful for the support of Damien’s family in trying to make changes that would prevent a similar tragedy from happening to another family,” Krueger said. “All of our offices remain in close contact with the family.”

Since the MacDade project was canceled, PennDOT reviewed the intersection of MacDade Boulevard and Fairview Avenue and proposed safety measures for the intersection, such as adding continental crosswalks.

Rudolph said the town of Ridley’s engineer contacted PennDOT on Nov. 18 to recommend additional safety measures at the Fairview intersection.

“PennDOT is committed to working with local communities to ensure that our projects meet the needs and expectations of residents,” he added. “While we believe the proposed road diet project will address the safety and speeding concerns on MacDade Boulevard, we recognize the importance of community support and input in the decision-making process.”

De Seife said PennDOT’s plan is a good start.

“When you have a good road safety plan, (…) it improves the quality of life,” she said, adding that it also improves business. “If you make the roads safer for pedestrians, they will be safer for cyclists and drivers…We hope they will work with PennDOT.”

Commissioners meeting

Several attempts to contact Ridley Mayor Robert Willert and City Manager Joseph Ryan were unsuccessful.

However, at the November commissioners meeting, Ryan spoke about how improvements to MacDade Boulevard at the entrance to the Blue Route would impact the area.

“We started getting calls from residents on School Lane,” he said. “They have seen a big increase in traffic.”

Ryan said the township employs an unnamed outside company to monitor the township.

“We have seen a significant increase in traffic in the area,” he said, adding that commissioners were considering contracting another outside firm to study pedestrian safety improvements.

The difference between Ridley Township and Glenolden, he said, is that in Ridley Township the streets run parallel to MacDade Boulevard, which can push traffic into neighborhoods.

“We need to look at this,” Ryan said.

Patrick McMenamin, vice chairman of the Ridley commissioners, told the family and the public they will continue to work on the issue.

“It’s not over yet,” he said. “We will continue to evaluate this.”

The next meeting of the Ridley commissioners will be on December 18 at 6 p.m. in Garling Hall at the Municipal Building, 100 E. MacDade Blvd.