'Something has to change': Neighbors fight to improve pedestrian safety on Stevens Point's west side

STEVENS POINT − Neighbors, friends and family of a 63-year-old Stevens Point man killed in early March by a hit-and-run driver want to be sure no one else is lost the same way.

Herbert Wievel was taking a walk on West River Drive when he was hit by a vehicle that left the scene . He later died from his injuries. The speed limit on the stretch of road is 25 mph. The Wisconsin Rapids man charged in the hit-and-run told police he was driving 45-50 mph at the time of the crash, according to court documents.

Gil Kvatek said he has lived in the same house on the west side of Stevens Point for 25 years.

"We see maybe one an hour going 55 or 60 mph," Kvatek said. "Something has to change."

Kvatek said there needs to be centerlines, signage or increased police presence in the neighborhood. He said he personally has put up his own homemade signs to increase awareness.

"We walk and bike and hike and have had so many close calls," Kvatek said. "Someone was bound to get clipped at some point."

Jake Wievel is Herbert Wievel's nephew. Jake Wievel said he grew up on West River Drive and felt lucky to have grown up in a place like that. He has lived elsewhere as an adult, but the family has seen a lot of compassion from neighbors after his uncle's death, he said.

"I struggle to think this could happen again," Jake Wievel said. "I struggle to think we'd have to watch other families going through this."

Trains block West River Drive and Portage County HH, said Jackie Schimke, another neighbor. When drivers get tired of waiting, they race through the neighborhoods trying to get ahead of them. The speeding and reckless driving goes past a school, she said.

"Our neighborhood has come together and talked about these things," Schimke said. "We should not have to fear walking and biking in our own neighborhood."

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Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza asked the city's police chief and public works director to briefly speak to the neighbors gathered at an April 15 Stevens Point City Council meeting about what the city has done and what it plans to do to improve safety, but City Attorney Logan Beveridge said the subject wasn't on the agenda for the meeting and he didn't feel comfortable having officials speak on the topic.

Wiza later told a Stevens Point Journal reporter that, in the past couple of years, police have handed out more than 60 traffic tickets in the area. There has been some additional signage and additional traffic enforcement, Wiza said. However, he reminded people that the officers have to come from somewhere and extra patrols in one neighborhood means fewer patrols in another neighborhood.

The Public Works Department is looking at ways to expand the shoulders in that area, but it isn't easy to do because there is not much space for it, Wiza said. The department also is looking at adding more signs, painting stripes on the road in places and other things, Wiza said.

Wiza said the issue will be placed on the agenda for the next Stevens Point Public Works Committee meeting, which takes place May 13. He hopes the neighbors will come to the meeting, listen to what officials have to say about plans to improve pedestrian safety on the west side and participate in the discussion.

Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33 .

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: 'Something has to change': Neighbors fight to improve pedestrian safety on Stevens Point's west side