Gerry Goldberg and his wife Andreia, who went by Andie, were active and athletic. While Andie would go out on runs, Gerry was a bicyclist. They lived in their Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, home for decades and knew the streets well — where to be extra cautious, where to make eye contact with drivers so they knew they were seen.
They both died at the same intersection, less than two years apart.
One day in May 2024, Goldberg got home from a ride and waited for his wife and, when she didn't return, he checked her location on his phone, his nephew Aaron Svoboda said. It showed she was at East Belleview Avenue and South Franklin Street, an intersection near their home.
"But he saw that her 'dot' didn't move," Svoboda said, so Goldberg walked to the intersection. What he found was "heartbreaking," Svoboda said:Andie had been fatally struckby a vehicle.
After Andie's death, Goldberg, whom Svoboda described as a private, reserved guy who was loved by his friends and family, would show up at town council meetings and press leaders in Cherry Hills Village and neighboring Greenwood Village — the two towns that share the intersection — to install traffic lights.
Belleview, a busy thoroughfare, has four lanes of traffic, two in each direction. Franklin, a smaller, two-lane street, runs perpendicular to Belleview.
Goldberg spoke with local television stations and created awebsiteand petition, things that were "against his nature," Svoboda said, "but it was important to him" that no one suffer the same kind of loss he had.
On March 2,Goldberg was killedin a two-vehicle crash at the same intersection.Denver 7 TV reportedthat no citations were issued in the collision.
A problematic intersection between 2 towns
Jerry Presley, a longtime friend of Goldberg who helped him advocate for greater safety, said the intersection straddles two towns — which means two separate town councils need to agree on any changes. Presley, a former council member in Greenwood Village, helped Goldberg navigate bureaucratic hurdles to get a traffic light installed.
Presley said he and Goldberg hoped to press council members in both towns to do a traffic study, which concluded that the intersection met the state's criteria to get a light.
"But do we want a light?" Presley said. "That's where we are now."
Supporters of Andie's Light, their effort to get a light installed, have garnered 432 signatures on a petition, but Presley said there are others who are opposed to one, worried that a stoplight might drive more vehicles into the neighborhood, increasing traffic on smaller streets and making those streets less safe. Presleyadded a link to opponents' own webpageon Andie's Light website.
Another question: Who'd pay for a traffic light? "Our position is that funding should not be the issue," Presley said, adding it would be installed at taxpayer expense.
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Presley said he's also hopeful that sidewalks could be added to the streets that intersect where both Goldbergs were killed. He's suggested public hearings and hopes both towns' councils will add the question to their respective agendas. USA TODAY reached out to the towns of Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village but did not receive a response from either.
Greenwood Village spokesperson Megan Copenhavertold Denver 7 TV in a statementthat the city "increased police patrols and traffic enforcement in the area to promote safer driving behaviors, and is reviewing potential longer-term solutions in coordination with these partner agencies."
Cherry Hills Village city manager Chris Cramer said the city was "saddened" by Goldberg's death and would conduct a new traffic study on an expedited basis and was working with Greenwood Village to "discuss near-term efforts to promote safer driving behaviors," according to Denver 7.
'Surreal on top of surreal'
Presley said he believes "both councils want to do the right thing."
"They're looking at it from two different viewpoints from citizens, and they'll have to make a decision," he added. "We believe not having (a traffic light) lowers the quality of life, and the opposition uses words like 'charm' and 'character' to describe the neighborhood, but we believe safety trumps charm. Whatever decision they make, it will disappoint a number of people."
Svoboda, Gerry Goldberg's nephew, was initially in disbelief when he heard his 82-year-old uncle was killed at the same intersection that had taken away his wife of 32 years. Andie's niece was distraught when she delivered the news, and Svoboda said it wasn't until he saw a local news report on the collision and talked with a police detective that he knew it was true.
"It was surreal on top of surreal," he said.
Andie, 59, was described in a death notice as a woman who "loved the outdoors and enjoyed hiking, skiing, cycling, running and any animal that crossed her path," someone with "a zest for life, a heart of gold and a positive energy that inspired those around her."
Svoboda said his uncle, who'd worked for many years making hand-painted signs in his grandfather's sign shop before selling the business and becoming a real estate investor, was thoughtful and deliberate, a natural leader who looked back while still keeping his mind on the present. "He understood the world evolved and he knew he had to evolve with it, and he did."
An old friend from the military eulogized Goldberg, Svoboda said, pointing to people at the gathering and saying, "I thought Gerry was my best friend, and I bet you did, too, and so did you..."
"That's the kind of person he was," Svoboda said. "Whenever you were with him, you felt special to him and he felt special to you."
Presley said the public does not want to delay the installation of a stoplight.
"The cost of the delaying, as Gerry's death shows, is unacceptable," he added.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Colorado intersection has been plagued by 'surreal' traffic deaths
