'People keep dying': Second crash in 11 days at Lockport intersection

Neighbors who live near the intersection of Bartz and Rapids roads in the Town of Lockport are calling for safety changes after two people were killed in separate crashes there last month.

The most recent crash happened Friday and claimed the life of a 27-year-old mother of two young children.

Henry Kamens has lived on Bartz Road for nearly 40 years and said he has seen crash after crash at the intersection.

"I don't know what they have to do," Kamens said. "People keep dying."

Another fatal crash happened Oct. 19. In that case, Kamens said a Jeep stopped at the stop sign on Bartz Road and then drove into the path of a cement truck traveling on Rapids Road.

At the intersection, Crosby Road becomes Bartz Road. Drivers traveling on Bartz and Crosby have a stop sign, while traffic on Rapids Road does not.

Kamens believes some drivers mistakenly think the intersection is a four-way stop.

"They think it's a four-way stop," Kamens said. "They just look, you know.... they stop and they just go. They don't really think that the traffic is coming, even though we have signs up there."

Kamens said he'd like to see additional traffic controls installed.

"I think they should put either a signal in or a four-way stop," he said.

Town of Lockport Supervisor Mark Crocker said the NYS Department of Transportation has previously determined there was not enough traffic at the intersection to warrant a traffic signal.

WATCH: 'People keep dying': Second crash in 11 days at Lockport intersection

Crocker also said Niagara County recently spent $6 million on Rapids Road, including regrading the slope of the roadway in an effort to improve visibility at the intersection.

They've also put up signs ahead of the stop signs indicating that the cross traffic doesn't have a stop sign. They've also installed extra large stop sighs at the intersection.

Crocker said it would be up to Niagara County to install stop signs for traffic on Rapids Road, a change he supports.

7 News also reached out to Niagara County about the intersection.