VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — First Step Homeless Shelter leaders are calling for safer access to public transportation after a woman was hit and killed Monday morning on Route 92 in Volusia County.
What You Need To Know
- A resident of First Step Homeless Shelter was hit by a vehicle and killed Monday morning
- Shelter leaders say they have been asking for safer access to public transportation in the area
- The nearest bus stop requires people from First Step to cross Route 92
“It was hard," said Victoria Fahlberg, Executive Director of the First Step Shelter. "We work so hard everyday out here for these people and they trust us and I just feel like we all let them down.
For Fahlberg, this is what she was most afraid of.
“You have a tragedy like this and it affects everybody pretty deeply,” she said.
Just before sunrise, officials say a resident of the shelter was hit and killed trying to cross Route 92 to get to the bus stop on the other side. Witnesses told Florida Highway Patrol that she had stopped to pick up something she dropped when it happened. At this time she has only been identified as a 30-year-old woman from Indianapolis.
“This is kind of hard to talk about, but she had just gotten a new job and she was going to be working in a warehouse and she was all worried about having the right boots to wear so she went out and got new boots and yeah, she was starting her job this morning," said Fahlberg.
This hit Fahlberg extremely hard, as she said she had been working to get shelter residents safer access to public transportation. She explained that the nearest bus stops require residents to cross Route 92, which is dangerous without a traffic light or crosswalk. Their only other option is walking about half a mile down the road, where there is no sidewalk.
“I mean I’ve been advocating for a year for us to be able to be able to get a bus, you know I would really like the bus to pull in here," said Fahlberg. "We have a good number of residents who are infirm, that don’t walk them, and for them to try and get the bus is basically, they can’t do it, they just can’t do it”
The shelter’s executive director tells me she’s been advocating for a safer option for shelter residents to access public transportation for over a year. She says her pleas have gone unanswered. Now this. @MyNews13 #News13Volusia pic.twitter.com/NvJjiWtcUy
— Nicole Griffin (@NicoleNews13) January 25, 2021
Falhberg said right now the shelter houses 40 residents but can hold up to 100, and all of them need to use the bus.
“You know all of them face the same issue you know like trying to get public transportation having to cross that road and you know right here, the speed limit is 65 miles an hour and it is the nature of this road that you are going to drive fast any way, unless you are coming to a light," said Fahlberg. "So you know you might start to slow down when you come to a light but otherwise it is just this highway.”
She hopes this is a wake up call that changes need to be made — before another person loses their life.
“I think it is the responsibility of the entire community," said Fahlberg. "You know, the least we can do is provide them with some way to get to the public transportation that is safe.”
Fahlberg said grief counselors are being brought in for the residents, who plan on creating a memorial for the victim. They also asked to send card to her family.
We reached out to the county for comment about the shelter’s plea’s for a safer bus stop but have not yet heard back.
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