A Parkside Elementary School fifth-grade class will soon begin installing a temporary traffic control design in the school’s drop-off and pick-up area to increase safety for students who walk to school.
The Columbus Board of Works moved last week’s meeting to Parkside School, 1400 Parkside Drive on the city’s north side, so students could present their plan and explain research that went into the proposal.
Beginning April 23, the students will begin installing a “pop-up, traffic-calming project,” designed to redirect traffic in safer paths at the drop-off and pick-up zones for students near Parkside Drive and Arlington Street.
The design was presented to board of works members on a site plan graphic, with bump-outs that include street art designed by the students and reflective temporary curbing. It includes a pedestrian path to allow safe access for students to an existing sidewalk. Vertical-striped delineators mark the path to separate the area from the vehicle lane.
The students are also including signage noting that the installation is a pilot project that will be in place May through September, with the students taking new data in May and in September to analyze how their design affected traffic and whether students felt safer walking to school.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
