By Age-Friendly Carbondale
According to Safe Kids Worldwide, half of all school zones in the U.S. have speed limits above 20 miles per hour — 30% lack marked crosswalks. Couple these ingredients with a considerable number of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists near schools during student drop-off and pick-up times, and you have a recipe for disaster. We have it in spades at Ross Montessori School. It abuts a state highway. The nearest signalized crosswalk is over one-third of a mile away. It’s across the highway from residences, the library, downtown, the Rec Center, Third Street Center and three public schools — all places where children go after the school day ends. The speed limit is an almost unbelievable 35 mph, even during arrival and departure times.
In April 2019, outdoor educator and former chair of the Bike Pedestrian and Trails Commission Darryl Fuller, expressed his concerns in a letter to CDOT that he shared with Garfield County commissioners and Carbondale trustees.
“On the subject of safe mobility for young people, is perhaps an even greater concern regarding Safe Routes to Schools at 133 and Weant Boulevard across from Ross Montessori school. To my mind, this is a tragedy waiting to happen and completely irresponsible. Not only do we see students darting across the road at the school (why wouldn’t they? Expecting anyone, let alone every elementary-aged child at the school to walk out of their way to cross at signalized crosswalks at Snowmass Drive or Hendrick Drive is not realistic). Additionally, the school zone speed limit here is 35 mph! That’s the same speed limit at both adjacent segments of 133. Without the addition of a signalized crossing at Weant and 133, and/or a decreased speed limit, I fear it is only a matter of time before we have an otherwise avoidable accident.”
A person living on the west-side told us, “People know that Jaywalking is dangerous. A sign may read, ‘no crossing,’ but it is too far from the lights, so people just cross without crosswalks.” A cyclist remarked, “I look for breaks in the traffic to cross from Keator Road to Seventh Street because it is the quickest and most convenient access to downtown.” A concerned parent said, “I witness kids running across 133 from Montessori because it’s too far to cross at Snowmass or Sopris to get to the Third Street Center.”
We know that when the nearest crossing is over 300 to 600 feet away, people will Jaywalk (www.tinyurl.com/JayWalk133). We knew it eight years ago. Why did we build a K-8 school alongside a fast-moving highway with after-school attractions directly across from it and put the nearest signalized crossing 1,700 feet away? We’ve been lucky for eight years. Will we rectify this mistake before some child’s luck runs out?