I'm currently covering the trial of Royce Atkins for a few of the weekly Press papers. He's been charged with failure to stop and render assistance when the car he was driving struck and killed 9 year old Darious Condash, almost exactly one year ago. I have no intention of discussing the fatality itself, but want to talk about something else.
Sidewalks.
On Tuesday, after the trial was over for the day, I visited the WaWa at Schoenersville Road. which is where this tragedy occurred. I saw a little roadside memorial for Darious, including the football helmet he wore as an East Side football player.
What I also noticed is a complete absence of sidewalks, on either side of the street. There's a crosswalk about a quarter mile south from the WaWa, but without sidewalks leading up to it, it's totally useless Noone is going to walk on uneven ground to get to a crosswalk.
Given that the WaWa is relatively new, why no sidewalks? The answer is that greedy developers get sidewalk waivers or deferrals because they want to maximize profit.
The Schoenersville Road WaWa is supposed to close for about a month in July for a $1 million facelift. Maybe the store should spend a few bucks on sidewalks and save a life.
