How you can improve on-street, school zone safety.

Distracted motorists, speeders, inexperienced teen drivers, and inattentive pedestrians and bicyclists hurrying to school create one big problem: Danger in the School Zone. The statistics are sobering. Almost 50% of children that are hit near schools are hit by other parents driving to or from the school campus.

Improving school safety by making on-street improvements, such as widening or adding lanes, is rarely cost-effective. In fact, these improvements may actually increase speeds in an area where this is not desirable.

The best ideas to improve safety around school zones occur when traffic engineers and school officials work together to reduce conflicts. Because on-street congestion usually results from back-ups on school campuses, a partnership between the two parties is the best way to solve the problem.

Here are some ideas to use when designing a project that falls within a school zone:

Reduce On-Street Congestion: 70% of schools have traffic that spills over onto adjacent streets. This happens when campus capacity is exceeded or when parents use a through street to pick-up or drop-off students. Solutions include:

• Moving the drop-off/pick-up zone off the street entirely. Keeping students separated from street traffic, and requiring them to be picked up or dropped of on school grounds, is the best practice.


• If this isn’t practical, consider building a pull-off lane (i.e., inset parking) so vehicles can pull off the street, out of the way of through traffic.


• Start an on-site traffic management plan, to include monitors to help load multiple vehicles at one time. Try staggering arrival/dismissal times for elementary and middle schools and after school activities. These all help keep vehicle lines from extending onto adjacent streets.


• Use right-in, right-out access, to reduce conflicts at busy roads.


• Traffic control in the context of school zones can get confusing. So use and enforce your NO PARKING signs. Clearly designate bus loading zones, crosswalks, and turn restrictions.

Improve Intersections: Children exhibit poor judgment in crossing streets. They dash in front of cars without looking. At signals, they cross upstream or downstream of the intersection, or they cross during the green phase. To mitigate, consider:

• Working with school officials to designate preferred crossing areas. Use ‘ladder’ style striping in these areas to increase their visibility to drivers. Paint ‘stand-back’ lines at intersection sidewalk slabs to keep children away from traffic until it is safe to cross.


• Children find the flashing DON’T WALK message confusing. Instead, use pedestrian signals with countdown timers. These are easy for children to understand. They keep them from crossing when only a few seconds of safe time are left.


• People pay attention to signs with children on them. Add signs at intersections, to remind drivers to watch for children when making their turns.

Use Traffic Calming: A clearly marked school zone is more likely to get the attention of motorists and remind them to slow down. Try these ideas to make drivers aware that pedestrians are present:

• Use driver feedback signs that use radar to measure and post vehicle speed. These are best when used in conjunction with SCHOOL, SPEED LIMIT 20 signs.


• Install crosswalk bumpouts, in conjunction with ladder striping and School Zone signs, to reduce speeds.


• Use textured pavement, refuge islands, speed tables, and raised crosswalks as traffic calming measures.


• Keep your signs and pavement markings maintained! Check for wear and tear at the beginning of the school year and periodically thereafter, including after the winter season. Refresh the paint on your crosswalks and pavement markings, keep overhead vegetation trimmed, and replace your signs when worn.

Remember, when designing highway improvements that overlap into a school zone, work closely with school officials, engineers, and permit agencies to find the best solution. The real cause of congestion in school zones is usually not a lack of on-street capacity. It stems from school campuses, where long queues of vehicles waiting to pick up or drop off students spill onto adjacent roads. These lines cause back-ups and frustrated drivers.

School officials are frustrated with delays and back-ups too. They need to get their students and staff into the classroom as quickly and as safely as possible. By including them in the process, they can provide input and support for crossing guards, site improvements, and school-to-parent communications. All are important in crafting a solution that meets the needs of all parties.

If you need solutions for congestion around your school zone, contact Chris Smith, P.E., at 585-334-1310 or at csmith@fisherassoc.com.