I’ve published some of the correspondence I’ve had in the next two posts to address what the schools and city have done so far. In both strings, all city council and BOE members were included.
I’ve also had lengthy discussions with the ORPD. As of right now, they will not position a police officer at either intersection nor will they provide direct assistance to myself or other potential volunteers – they cite liability as their main limitation.
As far as demographic information, see below that Dr. Bailey references monitoring the TP/Illinois intersection. I can tell you first hand that there are about a total of 10 students crossing at Robertsville Rd. between 7:10-8:10a.m. with the average number per day being 5. Most are heading to RMS, which means that even if the bus reinstatement were to occur as planned (for K-4th grade only), these children would still have no other safe alternative.
Finally, I have since learned that the incident that brought this issue to my attention did not involve a child being hit, but rather the child hitting the car. I’ve also learned that it occurred during a time that no lights would be flashing nor would a paid crossing guard be on site if either measure had been in place. I believe the child was en route to school earlier than normal to participate in an extra-curricular type activity. There are others who do so as well, which further expands the problem.
I recognize that there is no way to fully prevent accidents; however, as it stands, there is so much that can be done to limit such accidents but so little being done.
Trina Baughn 