Jogger identified in fatal accident

CHAPEL HILL -- The pedestrian involved in yesterday’s traffic fatality on Manning Drive has been identified as Lisa Carolyn Moran of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. She was an exchange student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 20-year-old woman was hit Thursday by a Chapel Hill Transit bus in the far right eastbound lane of Manning Drive at Columbia Street.

A construction project that would include a pedestrian bridge across Manning Drive near that location previously was scheduled to begin this week.

The bridge would not be an obvious option for a jogger as it will be accessible from the sidewalk only by a long, tiered staircase or an exterior elevator.

But medical student Evan Corey says the jogger's death illustrates that Manning Drive is not safe for pedestrians. He and some colleagues had been asking the university administration for temporary safety measures, such as a pedestrian-activated traffic signal, until the bridge is open in 2011.

"We've all had incidents where we've been almost struck by cars because they just don't yield," Corey said. "It's something like this, sadly, that brings attention to an issue that's been neglected for far too long."

Bruce Runberg, the university's vice chancellor for facilities planning, did not know whether the bridge could be ready earlier than planned.

"Given what has happened, we'll certainly consider that," he said. Runberg referred questions about interim safety measures to UNC-CH Police Chief Jeff McCracken, who was unavailable for comment.

Witnesses said they saw the young woman jogging on a sidewalk just before the accident. Police were continuing to investigate and had not determined who was at fault.

Previous accidents

It was the 12th pedestrian accident on Manning Drive in a little more than three years. Three people in those accidents required hospital treatment.

In 2006, retired UNC psychology professor David Galinsky died while crossing U.S. 15-501 toward Manning Drive on his way to the Dean Smith Center for a Tar Heel basketball game.

The town is planning over the next several years to install new street lights, marked crosswalks and pedestrian signals, flashing signs, sidewalks and a pedestrian tunnel or bridge across U.S. 15-501 at Manning Drive.