The death of a beloved Palm Springs Albertson’s employee has sparked calls for greater safety measures to be put in place near the spot on East Vista Chino where he was killed in a traffic accident earlier this month.
His coworkers and friends gathered on Wednesday to remember Richard VanWinkle, who his friends said brightened their day with consistent wisecracking and a positive attitude.
First reported by The Palm Springs Post, the memorial attracted around 100 people.
“The surprising thing was how there was quite a large, spontaneous turnout for an event like that,” said John Siegel, a member of Coachella Valley Cycling Communities, who attended the memorial. “It was touching, informative and uplifting.”
VanWinkle, 72, lived in the Gene Autry neighborhood across from East Vista Chino. He was known to bike and walk around town, including to the Albertsons on North Sunrise Way where he worked.
The Palm Springs Police Department and Riverside County Coroner have yet to officially identify VanWinkle as the man who died in the Dec. 1 traffic accident. His neighbors and friends have said he is the victim.
Palm Springs police said in a news release officers responded at 8:10 p.m. to a reported collision of a vehicle and pedestrian near the intersection of East Vista Chino and Voltuno Road. The pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene, according to police.
Few other details are available.
Neighborhood residents say they have long known the dangers of the section of road where VanWinkle died. They say the roughly one mile stretch of East Vista Chino between North Gene Autry Trail and North Farrell Drive does not have stoplights or a crosswalk, and people are known to run across the street rather than walk to the crossings at those intersections.
“We kept saying to ourselves and to the elected officials, someone is going to get killed on Vista Chino,” said James Green, chairman of the Gene Autry Neighborhood Organization. “We brought this up not just this past spring, but the year before, and the year before that.”
Green said he has seen people darting across the street rather than walk to the crosswalks. He said he has even seen someone pushing another person in a wheelchair across the street.
“There are accidents out there all the time,” he said. “I tell people it’s the worst strip of road in Palm Springs.”
A review of Desert Sun archives revealed at least one other person has been struck by a vehicle on that stretch of road. In 2018, a pedestrian was seriously injured after being hit early in the morning.
That section of road is administered by Caltrans, making it difficult for local residents to voice their concerns to relevant officials.
Caltrans did not respond to a request for comment.
However, state and city officials have worked together to build a stoplight at the nearby intersection of Via Miraleste and East Vista Chino where two pedestrians were killed in 2016. Public concerns about safety helped lead officials to approving the stoplight.
Green said he hoped to work with both state and local officials to raise awareness about the dangers of the section of East Vista Chino where VanWinkle died.
“I don’t see what the holdup is,” he said. “Where is the pushback. Why didn’t this happen already?”
Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Death of Albertsons employee leads to calls for road safety measures
