TOWN OF HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — A southtowns community is in absolute shock, mourning the loss of a beloved neighbor and advocate. Sandra Burczynski was hit and killed on crossing street she fought for years to protect.
"I got a phone call about 8:30 or 9 o'clock that Sandy had been hit by a car and didn't make it," said Charles Dublino, her close friend and neighbor.
Town of Hamburg Police reporting the death on their Facebook Page, Wednesday morning.
7 News Reporter Taylor Epps met with Burczynski in August of 2022, when she explained how scary it is to cross the street as drivers speed by, not slowing down, despite flashing yellow lights.
"It's your home, you know? Whether we're low income or what, doesn't mean we have to die crossing the street," said Burczynski last year.
Her nightmare, turned tragic reality on Tuesday night. Some neighbors in disbelief, others telling 7 News it was bound to happen.
Each time Christine Solberg crosses, she sticks a red pool noodle in her walker, with the word "stop" written on it.
"So that somebody might see me crossing the street, if I have the red pool noodle, they stop. They don't stop for anybody else," said Solberg.
What's being done?
Lake Avenue is an Erie County road, here's the response we got when we asked them.
"The Town has not yet submitted any permit requests for a HAWK signal at that location. You may want to follow up with them to check on the status of that," said the spokesperson.
So we called the Town of Hamburg, only to find out this road has been an issue since 1992.
"We had already previously identified this intersection as a problem area in our active mobility planning process, which is being led by GoBike," said Randy Hoak, Town Supervisor.
This group met on March 24 and agreed that something needs to be done. Hoak says current the speed limit of 40mph has to come down.
"If we had been able to slow traffic down prior to yesterday evening, the results may have been different," said Hoak.
From here, GoBike will schedule walk audits, an assessment of pedestrian safety, accessibility and comfort of a particular area. This group will then make recommendations to Erie County's Department of Public Works, which will then sign off on work.
There's currently timeline on when neighbors will see physical change.
The next meeting for the town's Active Mobility group is set for April 19 at 6pm.
