Queens man killed crossing Route 7 near high school

NEW MILFORD — Police have identified the pedestrian killed when crossing Route 7 near New Milford High School last week.

In a release, New Milford Police Chief Spencer Cerruto said Alexander Jefferson III, a 43-year-old resident of the Jamaica neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., was the man struck and killed on Thursday.

Cerruto said police were called around 6:45 p.m. to the area immediately south of New Milford High School on Route 7, also known as Danbury Road, to investigate a report of a car striking a pedestrian. He said Jefferson was found unresponsive in the right lane of the southbound portion of the road.

Personnel initiated resuscitation efforts, Cerruto said, but Jefferson was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene at 7:20 p.m. He said the New Milford Crash Reconstruction Team also responded to the scene.

Cerruto said eyewitnesses told police that Jefferson tried to cross the four lane, divided highway from the northbound shoulder area to the southbound shoulder area. He said the driver of the vehicle that struck Jefferson remained on the scene and claimed he did not see the man until it was too late to avoid the collision.

Route 7 safety as been an issue in New Milford after a three-car crash in September on the road led to the death of a high school student. The town held a public meeting in October with local and state officials to discuss traffic safety, enforcement and speeding.

The town has asked the the state Department of Transportation for permission to establish school zones to improve pedestrian safety. The transportation department has promised to prioritize repairs to traffic lights along the road, and has scheduled a safety audit for this spring.

Conducted in 2016, the last safety audit focused on improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists traveling between Still River Drive and Dodd Road. It found that key issues were the lighting on Route 7 at night, the fragmented sidewalks along Route 7, a lack of painted sidewalks crossing Route 7, and vehicles having difficulty turning left onto and off Route 7, particularly at the Willow Springs complex.