One year after an 18-year-old died in a car accident on River Drive, work is underway to make that stretch of road safer in Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa.
On Wednesday, March 25, 2015, friends and family of Natalie Munoz gathered at Davenport Memorial Park cemetery to celebrate the teenager with a balloon launch.
"Natalie was just precious, kind, loving, you name it. She was just a great daughter, a great daughter," said her mom, Annette Munoz.
It was one year ago that the Bettendorf High School graduate died in an accident on River Drive, just east of the Village of East Davenport. Investigators say Munoz was driving towards downtown when her vehicle swerved over the center line and collided with two oncoming cars.
Now, the City of Davenport and the Iowa Department of Transportation are working to make the stretch of road between Mound Street and Sixth Street in Bettendorf safer. A study is underway to figure out how to cut down on the number of serious and deadly crashes in the area.
"Maybe you limit some of the side road intersections or you prohibit left turns. You look at the speed limit and the speed of traffic. Maybe you create a median in the road," explained Doug Rick, IDOT's area engineer.
A consultant, Schneider Engineering, will come back with possible solutions based on their study. City and IDOT leaders will then decide what to implement and how to pay for any changes to River Drive.
The possibility of those improvements is important to Natalie's mom.
"Natalie, even though she's the last that passed away on that road, she would want this," said Munoz. "She was a good Christian girl, and she would want to save other lives."