The Nebraska state patrol is investigating a crash in Elkhorn involving a dump truck and a garbage truck that killed two Waste Management Employees. That crash happened around one Friday afternoon at the intersection of 204th and Fort closing the intersection for six hours.
Some neighbors who live around that intersection say the danger with it is the high rate of speed and low visibility. For some neighbors though Friday afternoon's accident was a bit shocking. “Anything that's close nearby is very shocking when you hear the word death, so it is of some concern at this point and a little bit shocking to hear such words like that in our neighborhood,” said nearby resident, Brett Gebhardt.
State troopers say a Waste Management garbage truck heading north on 204th Street switched lanes in an attempt to pass a pickup and trailer turning onto Fort. at the same time, a dump truck was turning left onto 204th. The garbage truck tried to get back in its own lane, overcorrected and lost control causing it to roll on its side and slide into the dump truck.
The garbage truck driver, 26-year-old Pierre Neal and passenger 54-year-old Rogilio Sanchez Marin died at the scene. One neighbor says it was only a matter of time for something like this to happen at that intersection. "Sadly, I was not surprised to hear that there had been an accident on that particular intersection,” said nearby resident Heather Duhacheck-Chase.
She said it's not uncommon to see people speeding down 204th, causing her to find different routes out of her neighborhood. “Intentionally avoid it even if it is easier to go that way or quicker because of the traffic there and because you don't have a good line of sight right there,” said Duhacheck-Chase.
Resident Roy McHugh said personally he's never had problems with that intersection but said there are some safety issues." It's a high speed coming in because it slows down to 45 right where the intersection hits,” he said.
The neighbors that spoke with 3 News Now agree now more than ever changes will need to be made to that intersection in the future. “I do believe that a stoplight will be needed eventually,” said Gebhardt. “Maybe if it dropped to 45 a little sooner that would make it a little safer,” said McHugh.
Some neighbors say a big concern going forward is the amount of traffic around that intersection will increase because the neighborhood is still developing and right now heavy traffic is already a problem.
