Bike Newport responds to accident that killed Middletown woman earlier this week

NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) — Bike Newport now wants changes at a busy intersection after a biker and box truck collided earlier this week, leading to the death of a 34-year-old Middletown woman.

It’s been two days since Kayla Watson was struck and killed on her bike at the intersection of Admiral Kalbfus Road and Hillside Avenue.

And while this is the most recent tragedy, staff with Bike Newport say it’s not the first.

“The intersection where this took place has been known to be really scary for years,” Bike Newport Executive Director Bari Freeman said. “For years we’ve been addressing how to improve safety there because it’s the main crossing to get to the elementary school every morning and leaving every afternoon.”

On Friday, Freeman sent out a list of requests to make the intersection safer, a step they’ve done before but hasn’t stuck.

“To have pedestrian-initiated signals and four-way stops and no right on red and brighter reflectivity for the crossing guards and bigger stop signs and you name it, we’ve done it,” Freeman said. “And every time we do something, it makes it better for a short time. And then it goes back to the same infractions of speeding and running red lights.”

This time, Freeman is looking for one major change: putting the first traffic camera in Newport at the intersection.

“The number one priority is the traffic cameras, traffic cameras are proven to just change people’s behavior,” she said.

Freeman said the community, the city, and everyone involved have been receptive to the ideas.

Freeman told ABC 6 News Crews she reached out to the Newport police and city council, both of which have plans to discuss the ideas soon.