Bad Drivers Cause Guards To Get Cross

People talk a lot lately about keeping kids safe at school.

But what about keeping them safe on the way there?

Mary Ann Sells has worked as a crossing guard at Buckeye and Normandie streets for nearly 15 years, shepherding children across busy Buckeye on their way to Garfield Elementary.

Nearly every school day, she witnesses behavior that would make a parent’s heart stop. Then again, many of the people behaving so poorly are parents themselves. And school bus drivers. And even the occasional city employee.

“Sometimes, the cars that go through here, it’s like the drivers have tunnel vision,” she said. “They just don’t see us.”

And then there are those who see the school crossing and don’t seem to care. In fact, they’re flat angry about it.

Sells has been flipped off, screamed at, even threatened with bodily harm. On a handful of occasions, she’s pushed children out of the path of speeding cars.

On a recent school morning, it seemed almost no one obeyed the 20 mph speed limit.

They flew past the yellow school crossing sign, past the white markings on the road, past the two women with their vests and flags.

“Every day, I see people who just don’t seem to care,” said Sells’ companion crossing guard, who asked that her name not be used. “They just fly through here.”

A particularly flagrant offense on a driver’s part may cause Sells to jot down their license plate number, which she’ll send on to the Police Department.

Cpl. Tom Sahlberg said the department sends out warning letters to offenders, reminding them that ignoring a school zone means double the fine of a traffic offense.

The department tries to get an officer to every school zone in the city at least every three weeks, Sahlberg said.

Spokane County recently replaced nearly 500 yellow school crossing signs with fluorescent yellow/green signs that are nearly impossible to miss.

Bob Brueggeman, a county traffic engineer, said the brilliantly colored signs are winning rave reviews from parents and school officials.

Joanne Ekstrom, Garfield’s principal, said she’d love to see the signs posted near her school, which is in the city.

“They really do show up better,” she said. “They’re more effective.”

City Transportation Director Bruce Steele said the city plans to try the signs at two locations - one on Mission Avenue near Stevens Elementary School and one on Hamilton Street near Logan Elementary School.

Steele said he wants to see whether the color change has a temporary or permanent effect on driver behavior. Often, the effect of a sign change lasts only a short time, he said.

If the pilot program is successful, the city will look for federal dollars to replace signs citywide, Steele said.

Spokane School District 81 spends about $200,000 on adult crossing guards.

The retired Sells said she doesn’t do it for the money. She just loves the part-time job, despite some of the nastiness that goes with it.

“It gets me up and going in the morning,” she said.

“I don’t have to be out here. I do it because I want to, because I like the kids.”

On the bus

The Spokane Transit Authority plans to run extra bus service during the Spokane Interstate Fair.

Today through Sunday, the No. 77 Fairgrounds Express will leave the downtown bus plaza every hour during morning and evening hours, and every 30 minutes midday.

It runs from 9:40 a.m. to 10:35 p.m. weekdays, 9:35 a.m. through 9:35 p.m. Saturday and 9:05 a.m. through 7:35 p.m. Sunday.

The 35-cent, reduced fare is courtesy of KSKN-TV.

Two bus routes - No. 33 Wellesley and No. 94 East Fifth - already offer daily service to the fairgrounds.

Call 328-RIDE for more information.

Hot spots

The three northernmost lanes on Main Avenue between Post and Wall streets will be closed in front of the old Nordstrom building for the next nine months while the building is being demolished.

Parking on the south side of Main east of Post will be prohibited to keep two traffic lanes open.

Also, the south traffic lane on Spokane Falls Boulevard between Wall and Post will be closed for the next four weeks while a new restaurant is added to River Park Square.

Drivers should expect delays at the intersection of Fourth Avenue, the Sunset Highway and Oak Street while the city installs traffic islands.

Your ideas Getting There runs every other Monday. Have a transportation question that’s been nagging you? Let us hear it. Got an idea for a column? Drop us a line. Phone us at (509) 459-5312 or fax us at (509) 459-5482. Send e-mail to kristinaj@spokesman.com or send a note to Kristina Johnson at The Spokesman Review, 999 W. Riverside, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Please leave a name and telephone number.