Henry Wise High School’s gymnasium was full of neighbors from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, frustrated about the number of traffic incidents nearby. Just last week, one of the school’s own died in a car crash.
The emergency meeting was held by Prince George’s Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay after 18-year-old Cayliy Haygood was killed in a crash on March 7. There have been two other crashes in the same area within the last week.
“We were going to meet about it the week before this young girl died,” Blegay said. “That’s what’s so tragic about the entire thing is that we were talking about the very thing and then she loses her life.”
Thomas Jackson, who has lived in the area for 22 years, suggested traffic signals be installed at Ritchie Marlboro Road and Brooke Lane to reduce speeding near where the fatal crash happened.
“My wife and I’ve been talking about [how] the development has increased the traffic tremendously. And over the years we’ve seen more and more accidents,” Jackson said.
Here at Henry Wise HS for a meeting about traffic safety following the death of student Cayliy Haygood. We just had a moment of silence for her. I spoke to Council Vice Chair @WalaBlegay who says she already had meeting scheduled the day after her death to discuss this issue. pic.twitter.com/3DgO7JiZbu
— Cheyenne Corin ✨ (@CheyenneCorin) March 17, 2023
Blegay was joined by the Prince George’s County Police Department and Michael Johnson, Director of the Department of Public Works and Transportation.
When residents expressed concerns about the speed at which the issues are being addressed, Johnson responded saying traffic studies are underway, but there first needs to be an analysis before anything can be put into place.
“I can understand their frustration, but when you’re making changes to an existing road, it really can’t be done very rapidly,” Johnson said.
Jackson said the timeline on improving safety wasn’t defined.
“I think [the community’s questions] were somewhat answered but not defined to the point where we as citizens and residents in this community can say, ‘we’re going to have a solution,'” Jackson said.
Johnson’s explanation also seemed to fall short for people like Linda Cary who said every day she fears being run over by speeding cars, although she said that she’s appreciative of the increased police presence since Haygood’s death.
“A lot of song and dance comments from some of the officials but I’m just hoping for results,” Cary said. “I just want to see progress and I don’t want to see progress 10 years from now, and I don’t want to see another study.
In a letter to the community, Principal Taryn Washington confirmed that both students involved in last week’s crash were seniors at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School, located about a mile away from where the crash occurred.
“We will do our best to comfort our Wise community during this challenging time,” Washington wrote. “A support team of school psychologists and professional school counselors will be here to help students and staff work through their feelings.”
