Uconn, Mansfield seek crosswalk work

Improvements sought on South Eagleville Road after grad student was fatally struck last month

The mayor of Mansfield and Uconn’s interim president are asking the state’s transportation agency to install pedestrian safety equipment at three South Eagleville Road crosswalks, including the one where a grad student was fatally struck by a car last month.

Mayor Antonia Moran and interim President Andrew Agwunobi signed a letter to Joseph J. Giulietti, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, asking for the off-campus improvements. The letter was emailed Wednesday, Mansfield Town Manager Ryan J. Aylesworth said.

“We are requesting your assistance and seek urgent action,” the letter reads. “On the evening of November 30, 2021, the Town of Mansfield and University of Connecticut communities experienced a tragic loss of life when Nhuong Nguyen, a 29-year-old graduate student at the University of Connecticut, was struck and killed by an automobile while crossing State Route 275 (South Eagleville Road) at an uncontrolled crosswalk.”

Moran and Agwunobi said they would like the state to install equipment at the crosswalk and at two others that lack signalization. One such safety feature would include flashing lights like the ones on North Eagleville Road, which runs through campus.

“We urgently request that the DOT install countermeasures, such as Rectangular Rapid-flashing Beacon (RRFB) equipment and pedestrian control features, to improve pedestrian safety and help to prevent future fatalities at these three uncontrolled crosswalk locations on Route 275,” or South Eagleville Road, the letter states. The crosswalks are at Eastwood Road, where Nguyen was struck, Westwood Road and Mansfield Apartments/mansfield Community Center.

The officials also asked for the state to fast-track improvements around the block on Route 195, or Storrs Road, which are planned for the 2023 construction season. Flashing lights and pedestrian

control features are planned for the crosswalks at Price Chopper, Storrs Commons and Mirror Lake, south leg, they said, as is an upgrade of the flashing lights at Storrs Cycle Center. They are asking that the improvements be made in 2022.

Uconn Police Chief Gerald Lewis said Uconn has been considering improvements at all of its campus crosswalks, even the ones that already have flashing yellow lights to warn drivers a student is crossing. They only work if a student presses a button to activate them, and Lewis said he’d like to see them automated.

He also said he has been thinking of getting students involved in creating a public service announcement to remind fellow students to be aware of traffic when crossing the street. He had been contemplating the changes for a while, he said, before the deadly pedestrian collision just off campus.

“We are always looking to improve safety, so that conversation is ongoing. It’s not just a one-shot deal,” Lewis said. “There are a lot of things that keep a police chief up at night, and one of those things is pedestrian safety.”

Aylesworth, the town manager, said the town of Mansfield has been working with the state for years to improve crosswalks on South Eaglesville Road. With college students walking to and from apartment complexes in the area, such as the one where Nguyen lived, he said, “I think there has generally been concern that people often maybe aren’t paying attention as they should.”

Kafi Rouse, the DOT’S director of communications, said last week that the state has made improvements at the intersection with Eastwood over the years.

She cited changes that started with the installation of pedestrian warning signs in 2000, and an upgrade of the signs in 2014.

Earlier this year, the state milled South Eagleville Road and painted a bar-style crosswalk there, she said.

Nguyen was in the crosswalk at the intersection with Eastwood Road when he was struck Nov. 30, state police said. He was taken to Windham Hospital, where he died.

A university employee was behind the wheel of the car that hit him. No arrests have been made, although state police continue to investigate.

Nguyen was described as a talented researcher who was pursuing his PHD in computer science and engineering in the Uconn School of Engineering.