The state Department of Transportation says there were 74 pedestrian traffic fatalities in Connecticut last year, the most in 34 years. Five of those were in Stamford.

News 12 Connecticut asked pedestrian Jerome Barham what it's like to cross the busy intersection at Washington Boulevard and Main Street.

"It's very dangerous man," said Barham.

Barham says he feels like he risks his life every day crossing the street.

"You got to wait for the walk signals and all that. Sometimes people don't do it and stuff happens," said Barham.

Just over a month ago, police say Giovani Vegas-Benis and Yuliana Arias-Lozano were hit and killed by Michael Talbot. Talbot was arrested last week and is being held in a Florida jail until he can be extradited.

The community has called for an increase in safety at Stamford intersections since this crash.

"There's no doubt in my mind that News 12 has done a terrific job at publicizing public safety in Stamford and helped us to deliver the messaging to the state and the city about how important it is to have safe streets," said Chris Dawson, with advocacy group People Friendly Stamford.

Dawson noticed shortly after News 12 Connecticut's story with him on Dec. 19 that members of Stamford's Vision Zero task Force, including Mayor Caroline Simmons, met to outline pedestrian safety projects.

"We are working with our traffic and engineering teams, everything from bump outs to getting drivers to slow down to doing things like raised crosswalks or enhancing sidewalks," said Simmons.

The mayor signed an executive order in September to eliminate traffic deaths in the city by 2032. Stamford is the first city in the state to do that. What could take time though is getting the OK from the state DOT to do the work on state roads such as Washington Boulevard.

"We'd like to see roundabouts where it's feasible, we'd like to see raised intersections, raised crosswalks," said Dawson.

Stamford has already raised some of the crosswalks on other streets in the city.

Stamford police told News 12 Connecticut Monday they are still in the process of bringing Talbot back to Connecticut to face a judge.