The conversation about traffic and pedestrian safety in southeast Centennial has taken another painful turn.

Beverly Bennett, whose Change.org petition has become a focal point for residents concerned about the Smoky Hill area, contacted Centennial Pulse with an important update: the petition now reflects five traffic deaths in two years across three nearby intersections.

The newest fatality occurred after a September 20 crash near East Orchard Road and South Telluride Street in Centennial, where an e-bike rider was struck by a vehicle. The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said the rider was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died the following day. The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. The Sheriff’s Office said the crash remained under investigation and, at the time of its update, no charging decision had been made. Denver Gazette

The woman was later identified as an Aurora mother of three who enjoyed cycling and worked as an artist. CBS Colorado reported that her family said she was crossing the road when the collision occurred. CBS News

Her death adds another life to a growing list that Bennett and other residents say demands sustained attention.

Why the Petition’s Name Changed

Bennett originally launched her petition in April after fatalities at Smoky Hill Road and Waco Street and growing concern about conditions along the corridor.

The petition is now titled “Seeking Answers for Five Deaths at Intersections in Smoky Hill Area.” The wording is significant because the most recent crash did not occur directly on Smoky Hill Road. It happened nearby at Orchard Road and Telluride Street, expanding Bennett’s focus from one stretch of roadway to a cluster of intersections in the surrounding area. Change.org

According to the petition, the five deaths include a motorcyclist killed near Smoky Hill and Waco in July 2024, two pedestrians killed at Smoky Hill and Waco in October 2025, a woman killed in a collision at Smoky Hill and Telluride in April 2026, and now Maraggos at Orchard and Telluride. Change.org

As of October 2, the petition had reached 924 verified signatures, putting it within reach of 1,000. Change.org

Residents can read Bennett’s full update, review the history of the campaign and add their names here:

Read and sign “Seeking Answers for Five Deaths at Intersections in Smoky Hill Area”

The Latest Death Changes the Conversation Again

It is important not to assume that every fatal crash in the area has the same cause or would have been prevented by the same improvement. The circumstances of the Orchard and Telluride collision remain under investigation, and transportation safety decisions require analysis of crash patterns, roadway design, traffic movements and how people traveling by car, bicycle or on foot use each intersection.

But five deaths across a relatively concentrated area in two years understandably sharpen the community’s questions.

Are the same roadway conditions appearing repeatedly?

Are there gaps in crossings, lighting or intersection design that deserve closer examination?

Are some improvements appropriate immediately while others require longer-term study?

And how will the City determine which locations receive priority?

Those are questions that can be asked without presuming the outcome of an engineering analysis.

A New Death Arrives as Centennial Is Considering New Investment

The timing of this latest tragedy is particularly notable because Centennial is already considering additional transportation spending.

As we reported in our previous update, the City Manager’s proposed 2027–2028 budget includes $1.75 million for street lighting on Smoky Hill Road and $125,000 to study additional improvements. Centennial presented the proposed biennial budget to City Council on September 15, and the City has scheduled public budget workshops for October 12 and 13 before final adoption later in the year. Centennial, CO

Centennial has also had a formal Vision Zero-oriented Safety Action Plan since 2025. That plan establishes goals of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2040 and serious injuries by 2045 and says safety planning should account for people walking, biking, driving, using transit and traveling with mobility devices. Centennial, CO

The City also completed a Smoky Hill Road Transportation Corridor Study in 2022, meaning this part of Centennial has already been the subject of transportation planning for several years. Centennial, CO

The latest fatality now gives residents another reason to ask how recent crash data will influence both the proposed new study and future project priorities.

From Five Deaths to Five Practical Questions

The most productive next step may not be to assume which specific infrastructure treatment should be installed. Instead, residents can use the newest tragedy to ask the City for increasingly specific information.

They can ask whether the proposed safety study will include Orchard and Telluride, as well as Smoky Hill and Waco and Smoky Hill and Telluride. They can ask whether recent fatal and serious crashes will be incorporated into the analysis and whether the findings will be made public.

Residents can also ask what improvements might be considered before a larger study is complete, how the proposed $1.75 million street-lighting project will be targeted, and what measurable criteria Centennial uses to determine when an intersection warrants a crossing treatment, signal change, lighting improvement or other intervention.

The point is not for residents to become traffic engineers.

It is for residents to understand the process by which engineering decisions are made, particularly when the consequences of unsafe conditions can be so severe.

The Petition Is Becoming a Record of the Issue

Bennett’s petition now serves another purpose beyond collecting signatures. It has become a running public record of how the community’s concern has evolved.

When the petition was created in April, it focused heavily on Smoky Hill and Waco. It was later updated following the April fatality at Smoky Hill and Telluride. Now it has been renamed following Maraggos’ death at Orchard and Telluride. Change.org

That progression tells its own story.

The original question was whether one intersection needed attention.

The conversation then widened to a stretch of Smoky Hill Road.

Now residents are asking whether there is a broader pattern among several nearby intersections.

Answering that question requires current crash data and professional analysis rather than assumption. But the question itself is increasingly difficult to ignore.

What Residents Can Do Now

Residents who want to follow the issue have several concrete options. They can read and sign Bennett’s petition, review Centennial’s Safety Action Plan, follow the 2027–2028 budget process and attend or review City Council meetings where transportation priorities are discussed.

Read and sign Beverly Bennett’s updated petition

Review Centennial’s Safety Action Plan

Follow Centennial’s 2027–2028 budget process

Find Centennial City Council meetings, agendas and minutes

Five Lives, and a Growing Need for Answers

There is reason to recognize that Centennial’s proposed budget now includes funding connected to Smoky Hill safety. That represents movement from where this conversation began.

But Stephanie Maraggos’ death is also a reminder that the timeline of government planning and the timeline of life on a roadway do not always move at the same speed.

Five people have now died at three intersections in the broader Smoky Hill area within two years, according to Bennett’s updated petition. Change.org

Each crash has its own circumstances. Each deserves to be understood on its own facts.

Taken together, however, they give the community a reasonable basis to keep asking whether the area’s streets and intersections can be made safer, what improvements are being evaluated, and when residents can expect to see them.

For Centennial Pulse, that is where this continuing story now stands.

The question is no longer simply whether the City is listening.

It is how the newest loss will inform what Centennial studies, funds and changes next.