Letter to the editor: Let’s all be safe out there

Dear Editor:

I’ve had the opportunity recently to visit nearly every school in the district, as students were either arriving at school or leaving.

And so I’ve become aware of some very unsafe traffic situations at some of our schools.

Yesterday I witnessed a “close call” involving a parent leaving a school and an early elementary school bicyclist, and missed witnessing an actual accident between the cars of two parents by just a minute.  I heard the boom.

Most of the schools have safe, well-designed, traffic ways.  Meadowdale Middle School, Cedar Way Elementary and Brier Elementary come to mind.

But the east end of Meadowdale High School, Hilltop Elementary and Hazelwood Elementary are … Just.  Downright.  Scary.  The worst aspect of these areas is that they are all close to pedestrian crosswalks.

I know that this is an issue that is important to our school board and to the School District’s Operations and Management Department. The places where traffic is controlled well have obviously been consciously designed well. But there are some specific places that are in urgent need of improvement.

I will be presenting this issue to the school board at the next meeting. We can’t bring it to their attention too many times. I highly encourage our current school board members to visit the sites I’ve mentioned. These are “hold your breath and just get through it” situations, and I have to think observing them personally will help the board members to understand what a priority fixing them has to be.

It is a testimony to the attentive, careful driving of our district parents and the excellent work of our traffic control employees that no one has yet been hurt.

–Cathy Baylor

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