- Sandy officials are considering enhanced safety improvements at 11000 S. 1000 East intersection.
- Discussion follows Joshua Perry's death by a suspected drunk driver on Jan. 15.
- A traffic study may lead to a roundabout or signal; immediate measures are in the works.
SANDY — The loss of life at a Sandy intersection, where 40-year-old Joshua Perry was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver last week, has city officials looking to reevaluate potential long-term safety improvements.
The city said plans for interim measures, which residents could see in the very near future, are also in the works.
Sandy City Council members heard from members of the public works department, who said they are planning to relaunch a traffic study examining the viability of putting a roundabout or a traffic signal at the intersection of 11000 S. 1000 East.
The discussion during the City Council meeting followed a firestorm of concerns from community members calling for the city to take action in making the intersection safer for pedestrians.
Community outcry
Josh Karr, who lives near the intersection, started a petition — which had garnered close to 800 signatures as of Wednesday — urging Sandy leaders to install an emergency traffic signal at the intersection.
"It's a really scary thing to see something happen a block away from your home like that," he said during the public comment period of Tuesday's meeting.
City officials are seemingly getting the message.
"Over the weekend we heard a clear community voice asking for a traffic signal at this location. The petition and public comments are not abstract — they come from parents, neighbors and families who cross the intersection every day," Ryan Kump, public works director, told the City Council.
On Wednesday, flowers and a baseball cap in honor of Perry laid under a stop sign at the corner of 11000 S. 1000 East in Sandy as a stark reminder of the crash that took his life less than a week prior.
A Sandy police officer could also be seen monitoring the intersection where Alta High School also sits.
Perry was crossing the intersection Thursday, Jan. 15, when he was hit by a driver, 55-year old Zoe Blankenstein, who police said in a booking affidavit was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
The fatal incident prompted Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski to visit the intersection herself on Tuesday ahead of the City Council meeting, where she offered condolences to the Perry family and stated that the city would be exploring several safety options for the site.
"We are taking the safety of this intersection very seriously; it has my full attention," she said in a video published on her Facebook page.
During Tuesday's meeting, Sandy's interim Police Chief Jon Arnold said the investigation into the crash is ongoing; he also noted that last Thursday's crash marked the 10th at the intersection over the past three years — many of which were stop-sign violations or what's called an "improper lookout," where a driver accelerates at the wrong time.
A few years ago, Sandy was evaluating what long-term traffic improvements for the intersection could look like, including a roundabout.
Kump told KSL on Wednesday that the city intends to reopen a traffic study from 2022 to see if a roundabout or a four-way traffic signal is the best option for pedestrian safety, school traffic operations, and an overall fit for the neighborhood.
"My goal is to get that study going over the next month or two," he said.
Kump said they'd like to move as "expeditiously" as possible at launching the study, but they'll first want to look at data from last week's crash report.
"I've assigned our engineering team here to start with the '22 study, reopen it with brand new data, including the events from last week as one of our new data points and then make sure that a roundabout can meet the needs of the community, or if we are better served moving to a signal," he explained.
Kump said he hopes to present findings from the study to the City Council in time to be considered for the fiscal year 2027 budget.
Sandy previously received federal funds through the Wasatch Front Regional Council toward a 2030 roundabout project, based on previous findings. If results from a new study still deem it the best solution, Kump said the city would make a request to accelerate those funds.
However, he noted that if a different concept is selected, the city will have to explore other ways to fund the project.
"Regardless of which permanent option we move forward with, we believe we can advance a project sooner than 2030," Kump said during Tuesday's City Council meeting.
In the meantime, Kump told KSL that plans for immediate measures like overhead flashers or LED red stop signs are in the works and could be implemented within the next month or two.
"And (we'll) have those in place up until a decision and project for a signal or roundabout moves forward," he said.
