She could not have foreseen her son’s death, but she had tried to prevent it.
In September 2020, Caty Anderson typed out a short email to her state representative, lamenting that a woman was hit by a car near her family’s Kensington home.
Anderson wanted her delegate to understand how dangerous that intersection — University Boulevard West and St. Paul Street — could be for pedestrians. She wanted it to be safer for everyone.
“There have been numerous car accidents in the last 11 years that we’ve lived here,” she told then-Del. Al Carr, a Montgomery County Democrat.
Almost five years to the day after she sent that email, Caty Anderson’s 16-year-old son was struck by a car and killed in that same place.
The death of James Evert Anderson, a Wheaton High School athlete with a gift for connecting with people, left his community heartbroken. For those who walk and drive the nearby streets, the crash reignited concerns about whether state and local agencies are doing enough to protect Montgomery County pedestrians and motorists.
The Anderson family confirmed to The Banner the email’s authenticity, but declined to comment further as they mourn their son.
Current Montgomery County lawmakers also wrote, in a recent letter to constituents, that speed cameras near the intersection where James died had recently been removed. On Friday, a speed camera was visible on the side of the road.
Carr, who left the Maryland House of Delegates in 2023, said he feels sick about what happened to James.
“That stretch of road, like many roadways in Montgomery County, is dangerous,” he said.
When Anderson emailed Carr in 2020, she shared specific ideas to make the intersection safer, and emphasized that students often cross that stretch of road on their way to Einstein High School.
“I wonder what options we’d have — traffic lights? Speed cameras combined with pruning of trees?” she wrote.
Carr sent Anderson’s concerns via email to Maryland State Highway Administration officials, other state lawmakers and local leaders in Kensington. Several government bodies share control of road safety in the area, including the Police Department, which is responsible for speed cameras.
“The arrangement we have in Montgomery County is complicated. We have the responsibility split among multiple agencies,” Carr said in an interview. “That sort of makes it harder to address these issues — how complicated it is.”
On Friday, Jessie Wang, 43, who lives near the intersection where James died, said she has in the days since urged her 13-year-old daughter to stay away from it.
“I don’t even walk on the sidewalk because I know it’s not safe,” Wang said.
A response
On Sept. 14, 2020, a state engineer responded to Carr’s request: A traffic team would launch a review based on Anderson’s concerns.
In an email to The Banner, state officials confirmed such a study was carried out and changes were made. Crews resurfaced University Boulevard between Amherst Avenue and Connecticut Avenue in September 2022, along with installing high-visibility crosswalks.
Later, they reduced the speed limit from 35 to 30 mph.
More changes could be coming later this fall.
“In light of this recent tragedy, our traffic engineers are evaluating the conditions for potential improvements including, but not limited to, speed reductions,” spokesperson Shanteé Felix wrote in an email.
Years back, Carr said state officials didn’t seize the opportunity to pursue more effective changes, such as reducing the number of lanes running in each direction from three to two.
The intersection at St. Paul Street and University Boulevard West consists of two three-lane stretches heading east and west. The thoroughfare is hilly, curvy and lined by trees, which can make it hard for drivers to see what’s ahead.
The trip to 7-Eleven
The night James was killed, he told his parents he was heading to a nearby 7-Eleven. The convenience store is less than half a mile from his home, but he would have had to cross six lanes to get there.
He never did.
The crash occurred at about 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 21, Montgomery County Police said.
An ongoing investigation determined that James was crossing the westbound lanes of University Boulevard West when he was struck by a Nissan Murano headed west, police said. The driver of the Murano stayed on the scene. No charges have been filed.
State legislators pledged to take road safety seriously in light of the crash that killed James and a second fatal collision two days later. Ganga Prajapati, 52, of New Carrollton, was killed in a hit-and-run in Wheaton.
“We know that far too many locations throughout our community remain unsafe and poorly designed. Road safety is a top priority, and we will stay laser-focused on protecting pedestrians and preventing future tragedies,” four Montgomery County lawmakers — Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher, Del. Emily Shetty, Del. Aaron Kaufman and Del. Jared Solomon — wrote in a recent letter to constituents.
The lawmakers wrote that several years ago they had worked to get speed cameras installed on University Boulevard near where James died, but that those cameras had recently been removed and installed elsewhere. They described this rotation of cameras as a common police practice.
“We can share that the speed cameras previously located,” at the intersection “will be returned to the roadway during the first week of October,” they wrote. This has apparently happened.
Montgomery County police said they could not immediately provide information on the cameras at the intersection.
‘Actual change’
Neighbors who live near the Andersons will be watching those moves closely after years of worrying about that intersection.
Jenny Collins, 40, on Friday watched her 2-year-old daughter play in the nearby Kensington Heights Neighborhood Park. Collins said she has jogged while pushing her daughter in a stroller through the intersection — but some drivers ignore pedestrians at the crosswalk, she said.
“Cars just whiz by,” she said. “We’ve been standing on the corner and nobody stops.”
Neighbors said officials should consider adding a traffic light or an electronic crosswalk sign. They say more lighting is also needed as the winding road becomes even less visible after the sun goes down.
“I hope this is a catalyst for actual change at that intersection,” Collins said.
The Banner has asked police if the driver in the collision that killed James will be charged.
Police said an investigation by the department’s Collision Reconstruction Unit could take several months before it’s completed. Once that investigation is finished, police said, the public will be notified.
In the meantime, a makeshift memorial hangs from a utility line where grievers have come to mourn James. The tribute was filled with flowers, a teddy bear, a cross and a baseball glove.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.