'Walk for Ema': East High School students call for safer road where classmate was killed
Dozens of students left East High School on Thursday afternoon to participate in the Walk for Ema.
On April 28, Ema Cardenas was hit and killed by a car while crossing the street.
The Walk for Ema started as school let out Thursday to the memorial near the scene where Cardenas died.
"My goal is to show my kids, my neighbors, my parents, my co-workers that change can happen. You just have to have a voice," Ema's mom Anna Campos said.
The purpose of the Walk for Ema is to call for the city to make the stretch of road where she died safer for people walking.
"We are working with the Iowa Department of Transportation and Des Moines Schools to look at what improvements could be made," Des Moines city engineer Steve Naber said.
Naber said four-lane roadways like East University present challenges, but they have options that include reducing the speed, adding a crosswalk, adding a stoplight and reducing lanes of traffic.
Naber said it is in direct response to the tragedy that claimed Ema Cardenas' life.
"Our goal is to make our streets safe for all users," Naber said.
Naber said from 2017 through 2021, there were 78 vehicular crashes on East University Avenue between East 14th Street and Easton Boulevard. None of them involved a pedestrian.
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