NASHVILLE, TN (WKRN) — Lana Alexander has been baking candy at Hermitage Bakery for two decades.
Over the years, her business has become similar to the road next to it—busy.
“We all know it’s more traffic, more traffic,” she said. “More foot traffic, more car traffic. All of it.”
Lebanon Pike is packed with cars, and Alexander said more people have been trying to cross it recently.
“I mean it’s five-lane traffic,” she said. “There are five lanes here and they’re always moving, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think you can walk to me from there.”
But earlier this week, three people were shot while trying to cross the Lebanese Pike.
“We tried to go to work but couldn’t because they blocked the streets,” Alexander said.
As Alexander tried to drive to the bakery Wednesday morning, Metro police said a 43-year-old man was struck and killed by multiple cars crossing the road.
“I feel sorry for the people involved,” Alexander said. “Hitting someone, they have to live with it, it’s not their own fault. I think that’s the bad part.”
Later that night, a little further down the road, two more people were hit by a vehicle and taken to an area hospital.
Speaking to News 2, Alexander and other business owners said they often saw people trying to cross the road instead of using nearby crosswalks.
“I mean, I get it. You have to go an extra hundred yards, but it might be worth it to save your life,” she said.
While Alexander loves her job and where she is, her greatest fear is that she could end up hitting someone driving on this busy road.
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“I can’t imagine,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m going to be stuck with that hitting feeling for the rest of my life.”