FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As area students prepare to go back to school, Springfield Public Works has been preparing as well.
Much of the preparation work relates to maintenance items such as programming the community’s 91 school zone flashers, updating recommended walking route maps for elementary schools and touching up crosswalks as needed. In addition, City traffic engineers work alongside Springfield Public Schools to help address safety concerns like with recent improvements made at Reed Academy.
“Reed Academy’s car line picks up students at the school’s front door on Lyon Street, but this is also where many students and teachers cross the street to get to a nearby parking lot,” explains Traffic Safety Specialist Mandy Buettgen-Quinn. “It is not ideal to cross students through a moving car line, so we decided that a raised crosswalk would help slow drivers and remind them to check for pedestrians crossing before moving on.”
Buettgen-Quinn says the crosswalk should not only help school traffic but may also reduce speeding reported along Lyon Avenue.
Public Works has recently completed the following school-related improvements:
- Construction of raised crosswalk at Reed Middle School (Completed Aug. 2022)
- New dismissal procedure at Sequiota Elementary to shorten backup onto Mentor Avenue (Summer 2022)
- Greater Parkcrest Neighborhood Traffic Calming Pilot Project underway on Broadway Ave. near Mann School (May 2022)
- Division Street “Road Diet” Restriping and added bike lanes in front of Boyd Elementary (Completed Oct. 2021)
- New Pedestrian-Activated Crosswalk on Catalpa near Pittman Elementary (Oct. 2021)
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For more information contact Communication Coordinator Kristen Milam at 573-819-3713 or [email protected].