Nevada Street Traffic A Concern Parents, Students Of Garry Middle School Cite Dangers Of Crossing Arterial At Joseph Avenue In/Around: Logan

For most, the 3:15 p.m. school bell means freedom. But for Jackie Todak, it brings a jolt of panic. It means she has to cross the street.

For her and dozens of other students who need to get across busy, four-lane Nevada Street, there is a convenient crosswalk at Joseph Avenue. They come by foot, on bikes and on skateboards, then stand, waiting to cross. They wait. And wait.

“I just wish the cars would stop,” lamented Todak, a seventh-grader at Garry Middle School.

“Yesterday I waited for 10 minutes. They should put a light or a sign there.”

In fact, there is a small, yellow, pentagonal sign near the crosswalk, but that doesn’t seem to be enough to remind drivers that the law says they must yield to pedestrians waiting at street corners to cross the street.

They zip by at 35 and 40 mph, with nary a glance at the waiting students.

“I don’t like crossing the street here,” said eighth-grader Josh Hobbs. “Most cars don’t stop. They need to make less cars come by here. Or at least make them go slower.”

The crosswalk at Nevada and Joseph, which does not have crossing guards, is the one many Garry Middle School kids use to get to and from school. And like the students, many parents think the Nevada/ Joseph crosswalk is unsafe. Darrell Robinson said he usually drives or walks his 12-year-old daughter the four blocks it takes her to get to school.

“Kids stand there, and cars zoom by,” he said. “They step off the curb, and they still zoom by.”

He’d like to see the crosswalk get a bigger “Student Crossing” sign, crossing guards, or a flashing light.

“I just think they could do something better,” he said.

According to Joe Madsen, director of safety and transportation for the Spokane School District, no middle or high schools in the district have crossing guards because of the age of the students.

“The kids are older and should be able to make those judgment calls about breaks in traffic,” Madsen said.

Robinson recently voiced his concerns to Garry Principal Carl Crowe, who said he is well-acquainted with the worrisome crosswalk.

“It’s an issue that comes up every few years,” Crowe said. “But in the five years I’ve been here, it hasn’t been a problem - a concern, yes - but not a problem.”

Crowe said Garry’s teachers and administrators try to work with the kids to make them aware of the potential dangers.

“We tell kids to be safe. We put notices in the bulletins,” he said, adding that there’s not really anything he can do.

“I can’t go out there and say, `We want a stoplight here,”’ he said. “I’m still trying to get `No Parking - Bus Loading’ signs up around the school.”

Madsen said the district’s major safety emphasis has been on elementary schools. That’s why all middle and high schools don’t have 20 mph speed zones around them.

But the district’s safety department does have a proposal before the city, Madsen said. It’s to provide consistent pedestrian crosswalks and speed zones at all district schools. That proposal is currently under consideration, he said.

Madsen also said that he would be happy to work with any parent groups interested in traffic safety. They could work together to create a comprehensive plan to address signs, lighting and parking needs - something that would work to meet everyone’s needs, he added.