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.
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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.
Students divided up last week’s presentation, with the fifth-grade students in Edie Logston’s class memorizing their own part and delivering it to the city leaders.
Laura Garrett, who works on community initiatives for Healthy Communities, described the group as a class of exceptional students who worked together well as a team and pursued the right way to do a community project.
In March, the students met with a number of community officials to come up with ideas for the project. They also met with Mark Fenton, a public health, planning and transportation consultant from Boston, who also provides consultation services for the Columbus Park Foundation.
Fifth-grader Steven Sun described how the students collected data, wearing bright neon safety vests and counting cars, buses, walkers and bicyclists arriving at school.
Sun said students were also documenting how many in each category used the intersection correctly and how many times cars attempted to double-up on the one lane to drop off students in the morning.
Students also noted that many drivers pulled far into the pedestrian crosswalk when stopping at the intersection, making it difficult for the walkers and those on bikes to safely cross the street.
The students determined that 7:50 to 8 a.m. was the busiest time each day, as students have to be in class before 8:10 a.m.
The final design bumps out all the corners at the intersection, which will deter the double-line problem, the students said. They also came up with an octagon and black square design that can be installed temporarily with street paint and adhesive.
Some students initially wanted to use yellow and black colors for the design, which follows Parkside’s school colors. But David Hayward, Columbus city engineer and executive director of public works, explained that yellow is used in street design to signal a warning, which didn’t fit with what the students were trying to construct.
And while that was initially disappointing, Garrett said the students are working with the city to research some mixable colors that could be used, perhaps a slate or brick red, if the students want to tone down the brightness of the white in the design.
The PowerPoint presentation to city officials included graphics showing the timeline for the project, the installation week of April 23 to 27 and how the students will gather data in May and September to determine if their design is a success.
During a question-and-answer session, Garrett said this effort is designed to encourage more students to walk or bike to school, part of the Healthy Communities goal of improving the health of local residents. It also fits into Healthy Communities Safe Routes to School task force efforts, which encourage the city to always look for alternatives to make pedestrian and bicycle travel more safe.
Right now, about 35 Parkside students walk to school in the morning and 40 walk home in the afternoon, a number that could increase if the design works as it should, Garrett said.
The Parkside students hope to have their design in place by May 9, National Walk to School Day. They will work on it during weekday afternoons when drop-offs and pick-ups aren’t occurring.
Healthy Communities is funding the cost of materials for the pop-up design with the understanding it will be removed in September after data collection is completed. After that, the city may decide whether to use the design to create a permanent solution and change to the pick-up and drop-off points near the school.
Cindy Frey, Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce president, lives in the neighborhood and told the students they would not only be helping Parkside, but also the families who use the crosswalks on evenings and weekends to go to nearby Freedom Field.
“We really support the students’ efforts to make this intersection safer,” she said.
The students’ request for the temporary installation was approved unanimously, and the board of works members and the audience saluted the students with a lengthy round of applause.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, who chairs the board of works, greeted each student individually after the presentation to congratulate them on the work they did.
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Visit crh.org/community-foundation/healthy-communities
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To learn more about National Walk to School Day, visit walkbiketoschool.org/
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