NAMPA, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
A colorful arrangement of Christmas lights, toy windmills and painted rocks sits at the corner of Midland Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue just west of downtown Nampa.
Fit for any kid, the decorations have been placed in memory of Kyanne Guest, a 4-year-old whose death shook the community back in 2020 when she and her older sister were hit by a vehicle while using a crosswalk.
Years later, Kyanne’s passing has continued to inspire the community and city to bring awareness to mindful driving and pedestrian safety.
Nampa residents Chrissy Whitworth and Kelli Rich have spearheaded a project to memorialize Kyanne as a continuation of Nampa’s Remember Our Children campaign. The campaign consisted of a series of videos telling Kyanne’s story and served as a reminder for pedestrian safety.
Whitworth and Rich are introducing a new project to memorialize Kyanne more permanently with Kyanne’s Corner.
“It’s one girl and that’s Kyanne,” Whitworth said about the Remember Our Children logo, depicting the silhouette of a girl carrying a lantern. “She inspired this for this city.”
The memorial at the intersection where Kyanne was killed would replace bushes at the corner of the ExtraMile by Jacksons with colorful flowers. A rock garden would also include stones painted by community members.
Whitworth and Rich are hoping to raise enough funds to commission a statue of Kyanne, central to the memorial.
The pair noticed how Kyanne’s family had continued the makeshift memorial, placing decorations as holidays came and went.
“To keep that going for three years, that’s amazing,” Whitworth said.
Near the intersection where Kyanne was hit are several neighborhoods and schools.
“We realized, once we started talking about Kyanne and about the accident, how many people that it did affect in our community,” Whitworth said.
Despite not knowing Kyanne’s family personally, Whitworth and Rich knew they wanted to help create a more permanent memorial. Whitworth and Rich hope Kyanne’s memory will also serve as a reminder for drivers to look out for pedestrians.
“It changed the way we drive,” Rich said. “And I think because our town has grown so fast and so big … we’re not a little town anymore.”
The goal is to raise $80,000 by the end of the summer to begin construction in 2025, with project details and donations at besafeandsober.org/kyannescorner.
Statewide, pedestrian deaths approximately doubled from 2022 to 2023. In 2023, preliminary data from the Idaho Transportation Department accounted for 31 pedestrian deaths, with four occurring in Canyon County.
In the past five years, Nampa has seen 11 pedestrian deaths.
While the numbers alone aren’t staggering, this is the highest number of pedestrian deaths to occur in the past decade in Idaho, surpassing the previous high of 22 deaths in 2021.
Additionally, Canyon County led the state in traffic deaths last year with 32 total, according to data from the Idaho Transportation Department. Those deaths can include individuals not wearing seatbelts in cars, riding motorcycles, pedestrians on foot, and those riding bicycles.
Laura Shoemaker, a member of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, has been looking to educate residents on pedestrian safety with the creation of an educational booklet.
“One thing I’ve learned, after joining the committee is just how much red tape you have to go through,” Shoemaker said about infrastructure projects.
As a jogger herself, Shoemaker lives near Nampa’s downtown and likes to walk places, but doesn’t like to bike in the city, feeling unsafe. She sees room for improvement, with gaps between sidewalks and inaccessibility.
Nampa Bicycle Project founder LaRita Schandorff described the area’s culture as car-centric with a lack of support for public transportation. Even with bus stops that exist, she said the travel there can be difficult.
“They call that the last mile,” Schandorff said. “Are you doing a good job of consciously thinking about that last mile to get people to public transit?”
Schandorff has also heard claims that Nampa residents don’t walk. She noted that walking and biking are quiet modes of transportation that are more discreet than cars.
For certain areas that don’t see much foot traffic, Shoemaker noted, maybe it’s just not safe.
Boise State University’s Krista Paulsen, professor of urban studies and sociology, said that the perception of safety itself can determine an area’s walkability.
“It’s important to keep in mind that safety not only includes traffic safety,” she said. “It also includes things like lighting … it could also include things like, ‘Do I have to walk past something that feels unsafe?’”
At the same time, walking may not always be a choice, but an individual’s primary means of getting around.
“It may be that they are walking to work or to school because that’s what’s available to them,” Paulsen said.
Difficulties for pedestrians begin when cities are planned around cars — not people. This can lead to gaps in sidewalks.
Schandorff reflected on a 2010 project she worked on to create connectivity for cyclists in Nampa, ensuring that bikes could get from one spot to the next seamlessly.
“If there’s connectivity and the person knows when they go out of their house, that there is a way … then they’ll do it,” Schandorff said. “But if there is a gap between here and there, or something risky, you’re probably not.”
If places are well-built with pedestrians in mind, Schandorff believes people will want to walk.
Paulsen said that there are a variety of benefits of a walkable area other than health.
“Walkability is important for so many reasons,” Paulsen said. “It’s important socially, so we have the opportunity to connect with our neighbors and people in our community. ... It can also be a contributor to sustainability if we are replacing automobile trips.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 52% of daily trips in the country 2021 were under three miles and 28% of trips were less than one mile.
“What I try to encourage people to do in their car-centric mentality, is to ask themselves before they get ready to leave, ‘is this something I could do?’” Schandorff said.
Schandorff and Shoemaker encouraged people interested in improving walkability and pedestrian safety to get involved through advocacy, with resources outlined in Shoemaker’s booklet on the Nampa Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee page.
“It’s not just about getting from point A to point B,” Shoemaker said. “It’s having a healthy, vibrant neighborhood.”
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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