Traffic and pedestrian safety are problems that have plagued Kensington for years, but the death last week of a resident should spur action to improve roads, according to Town Councilman Al Carr.

Laurel Wolchok, 78, of 10200 block of Frederick Avenue in Kensington was crossing University Boulevard at Farragut Avenue around 7 p.m. Jan. 5 when she was hit by a car traveling east on University Boulevard West. Police said the driver of the car, 34-year-old Felipe Gonzalez-Cofino, also of Kensington, said he did not see Wolchok, who was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk. Light rain was falling at the time of the accident, which police said may have contributed to reduced visibility.

Members of the county police accident reconstruction team are investigating the incident and had not decided as of Tuesday whether charges would be filed.

Kensington officials have been asking for road safety improvements at that intersection, as well as numerous other intersections, for years, saying poor lighting and driver speed contribute to dangerous walking and driving conditions.

Carr said the Town Council has received many complaints about the University Boulevard, Farragut Avenue intersection.

"Speeding is a big problem," he said. "There is a lot of pedestrian activity nearby due to the proximity of homes, apartment buildings, [the] shopping center, restaurants and Kaiser Permanente."

Carr and members of the town's Traffic Advisory Committee have proposed safety improvements for various intersections, such as signs, flags and pedestrian signals.

Kensington Mayor Lynn Raufaste said state highway officials are studying options and the town needs an overall plan before significant changes can be made.

"We're going to look at realigning and redirecting traffic through the town," she said. "I don't know whether the funding is going to be there to do it, but before anything major is done, we have to have an overall plan."

The Coalition of Kensington Communities, an umbrella organization that represents 10 citizens associations is asking transportation officials to re-examine their priorities for reducing congestion and to put Kensington at the top of the list.

"In the past I think engineers have thrown up their hands," said Joe McMahon, a member of the group and the spokesman for its traffic concern. "I think we have to start looking for out-of-the-box solutions."

He suggested that some intersections could benefit from raised pedestrian walkways or reconfigurations.

Kensington is especially prone to speeding traffic, McMahon said, because of a series of lights, ending just before the split with University Boulevard, where Wolchok was killed, that slow traffic. After being forced to stop at traffic lights throughout town while commuting north on Connecticut Avenue, McMahon said frustrated motorists try to make up lost time once they're beyond the lights.

"Once you get past those lights, the natural instinct is to speed up," he said.

The crosswalk at Farragut Avenue, where Wolchok was killed, is marked with white striping painted on the road, but there is no walk signal indicating that it is safe to cross. The speed limit in the area is 30 miles per hour. Cars headed north on Connecticut Avenue can either continue north or bear right onto University Boulevard, as the car that hit Wolchok did that night.

According to Carr, five pedestrians have been killed in and around Kensington since 1991. He said he hopes something can be done about the speed and amount of traffic coming through town.

"I would like for the town, county and state to do a thorough review and make improvements if possible," he said.

Carr said possible improvements could include narrowing travel lanes to slow traffic and reduce the crossing distance, changing the street lighting to improve visibility, using a speed radar trailer to increase driver awareness of speeding and increasing police presence in places where speeding is a problem.

McMahon said the Coalition of Kensington Communities has drafted a letter it planned to send later this month to state and county officials noting areas where traffic is a problem. Those concerns include absent or narrow sidewalks, congestion in various parts of town and speed on Connecticut Avenue.

"Any time you have a mix of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, it's a dangerous situation," McMahon said.