Student Pedestrian Safety Fiddlers Canyon Elementary Community Council 2012

Transcription

1 Student Pedestrian Safety Fiddlers Canyon Elementary Community Council 2012

2 Introduction Fiddlers Canyon Elementary students must cross North Wedgewood Lane and Fiddlers Canyon Drive in order to come to school and go home. Many of us have observed cars going too fast, drivers distracted by phones, and incidents where students were almost involved in an accident due to these factors. The biggest factor is that drivers are driving too fast on these streets and there is a lack of protection for pedestrians in these areas. This year the community council decided to gather data in order to present to the city council in hopes that the city would initiate its own investigation into pedestrian safety near Fiddlers Canyon Elementary. Our hope is to have a school zone with flashing lights to force drivers to slow down and to have more crosswalks for pedestrian safety. Data Concern Traffic around Fiddler s Canyon Elementary during peak hours creates an unsafe environment for pedestrian children. The speed and volume of traffic, along with insufficient pedestrian access points, has created several near accidents. We re concerned about the risk of a traffic fatality involving a child walking to and from school especially coming from the South and West of the school. Action The Community Council studied the vehicle and pedestrian flow around Fiddler s Canyon Elementary on multiple days during peak hours. Peak hours are the 30 minutes before and after school. A survey of the surrounding posted signs and crosswalks was also put together to assess possible deficiencies. A comparison to other area schools was performed. A specific assessment of the danger in crossing Fiddlers Canyon Road at the Wedgewood Lane intersection was undertaken. Findings The highest traffic flow around Fiddlers Canyon Elementary is on Wedgewood Lane to the West and Fiddlers Canyon Road to the East and South. During the measurement periods, approximately two hundred cars pass through these streets in a 25-minute period. At this rate, if you are standing on the corner of these two streets, a car passes every eight seconds. This is compounded by the higher speeds of vehicles traveling downhill on Fiddler s Canyon Rd. This is the only street adjacent to an elementary school in Cedar City that is on a hill with a significant grade. Speeds on this street are posted at 25 MPH and are routinely exceeded. We did take video of this to demonstrate. The line of sight for a pedestrian or driver to the East at the intersection of these two streets is poor due to trees and buildings. We measured this line of sight at 308 feet. A car traveling at 30 MPH can cover this distance in 7 seconds, at 35 MPH in 6 seconds and 40 MPH in 5 seconds. It takes an adult approximately 11 seconds to walk across the street. The high speed of traffic, the traffic volume, and lack of crosswalk access across Fiddlers Canyon Road or the South end of Wedgewood Lane creates a dangerous crossing point for children. During the study period multiple pedestrians including an entire class of

3 volunteer High School students were observed jaywalking across the South end of Wedgewood Lane. No crosswalk exists on the Southern end of this road to divert pedestrian traffic to a safer crossing location. Children coming from the apartment complexes to the West and South of the elementary school have either distant or no crosswalk access across the two busiest roads around the school, Wedgewood Lane and Fiddlers Canyon Road. Signs at the Northeast segment of Fiddler s Canyon Road are inconsistent. There is a sign stating Reduced Speed Ahead without a reduction in the posted speed across the school zone. School Comparisons All elementary schools in Iron District were considered as comparisons; however, we discovered that Fiddlers Canyon Elementary faces unique challenges when considering pedestrian safety. Fiddlers Elementary is the only school that has a canyon road with a downhill grade and where our biggest problem is a block from the school. Community Council Proposals Create a flashing lights 20 MPH school zone on Wedgewood Lane beginning North of the school and continuing to the intersection with Fiddlers Canyon Road. Create a flashing lights 20 MPH school zone on Fiddler s Canyon Road from the Northeast corner of the school property extending to the West end of the Fiddlers Canyon Road and Wedgewood Lane. Create crosswalks at the Wedgewood and Fiddlers Canyon intersection with Yield for Pedestrian signs. Create a crosswalk at the North side of the intersection of Wedgewood Lane and 1935 North. This intersection is contiguous with the school boundary. Trim back the trees obscuring the sign on the South end of Wedgewood Lane. Conclusion We re concerned for the safety of our students and hope for more pedestrian protection on their behalf. We are grateful to the City Council for hearing our concerns. We hope this presentation will raise awareness and initiate further official investigation into the matter with the hope that more pedestrian protection will be provided. We understand that this is a cost to the city but feel that the safety of our children merits the expense. Appendix Map A: Current and Proposed Safety Precautions Map B: Illustration of problem neighborhoods Map C: Proposed School Zones and Crosswalks Data Gathered: Data Spreadsheet

4 Map A Current and Proposed Safety Precautions Note = Crosswalks to the Northwest have been repainted.

5 Map B Illustration of problem neighborhoods

6 Map C Proposed School Zones and Crosswalks

7 Data Gathered