Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – A local woman escaped serious injury Sunday evening as she was struck by a vehicle as she crossed the crosswalk in front of the Braden Theatre. “Shannon Marquis, 22, of Presque Isle, was crossing the street with other pedestrians when she was struck by a vehicle driven by Levi Bickford, 23, of Limestone,” said Sgt. Eric Erickson, of the Presque Isle Police Department.
The Aug. 3 accident was reported to police at approximately 9:41 p.m. Crown ambulance responded, as well as first responders from the Presque Isle Fire Department.
Several moviegoers were on hand and gave witness statements to police.
“Bickford was traveling north in a 1996 GMC Jimmy when the accident occurred,” said Erickson.
Marquis was transported to The Aroostook Medical Center, where she was treated and later released. She sustained no broken bones, according to Erickson.
The cause of the accident, said Erickson, was failure to yield to a pedestrian. No charges were pending at presstime.
Officer Kevin Schumacher served as lead investigator, assisted by Officer Rob Thibeault.
The accident drew the attention of City Council during their Aug. 4 meeting, as members of the Downtown Revitalization Committee and Ken Arndt, the city’s planning and development director, spoke of the need for improved safety measures downtown.
“One of my concerns tonight is improving safety, so families can cross the street safely, to and from the theatre,” said DRC President Patty LeBlanc.
Arndt asked for some direction and support from the Council with regard to safety and other issues that need to be addressed in the downtown area.
“A young lady was struck this weekend and had to go to the hospital. I hope you – Council, Public Works, Tom (Stevens), Larry Clark and Naldo (Gagnon) – can come back in September with ways to address that,” said Arndt.
Arndt said there must be a, “Way to meet the basic need but not be terribly expensive.”
“I think we have an emergency. I don’t expect a big, fancy crosswalk. But this still needs to be addressed,” Arndt said.
“I couldn’t agree with you more and I’ve said that from the start. I’ve stood there (in front of theatre). A lot of traffic goes through there,” said Councilor Ron McPherson.
Arndt told Council he thought efforts should be made in the next month to work with DOT to resolve the problem before someone else got hurt.
“They’re (DOT) doing a whole lighting thing next year. This might work into this. This is fairly urgent. We don’t want this type of thing happening again where someone gets hurt,” said Arndt.
Walt Elish, Council chair, said he hoped the Council was supportive of Arndt’s efforts.
“The theatre, restaurant downtown attract people. There are people down there and their safety is important,” said Elish.
McPherson expressed surprise over the fact vehicles actually stop for pedestrians at the lighted crosswalk.
“What surprises me, I walk Main St. an awful lot, and the signal in front of Gary’s where you press a button – people actually stop,” said McPherson.
Arndt said people want traffic to move but it can’t move to the detriment of pedestrians.
Council agreed to continue discussing the crosswalk issue and ways to improve pedestrian safety downtown, with plans to revisit the topic at a future session.
The next Council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 3 at City Hall. The public is encouraged to attend and participate. For more information, contact 764-4485.
