As the first day of school quickly approaches for students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, council members have put plans in motion to improve traffic safety around campuses across the city.
It was announced on Friday that more than 450 slow zones and 250 speed bumps have been installed around schools in response to the deadly pedestrian nuisance.
“The city has rushed to install hundreds of safety features near schools ahead of the new school year,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “Working with the City Council and the Los Angeles Unified School District, we have taken action to make streets near schools safer, and we will continue to do more to keep students safe.”
Municipal services have completed several installation projects, including measures to make the area around schools safer now that students are returning to school on Monday.
Read more: Los Angeles City Council moves forward with motion to build speed bumps outside all public schools
Some of the work included rapid traffic safety projects at more than 180 intersections near 40 schools, the installation of more than 250 speed bumps at 92 schools where speeding is a common problem, and the establishment of several ‘school slow zones’ with a speed limit of 24 km/h on more than 450 streets.
In addition, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation will deploy more than 500 crossing guards for the 2024-25 school year. Officials say it’s the “largest deployment” of crossing guards in the city in more than a decade.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Heather Hutt, chair of the council’s Transportation Committee, added that safety measures are paramount as the new school year approaches.
“The hundreds of safety features LADOT has installed over the past year and the record number of traffic control officers hired represent the most significant investment our city has ever made to prevent dangerous driving near schools,” LADOT Executive Director Laura Rubio-Cornejo said in a statement.
LAUSD Principal Alberto Carvalho also issued a statement on the subject, addressing the families who have been victims of “senseless” traffic incidents on their way to and from school in recent years.
“As we welcome our students, staff, and families into the 2024-25 school year, our Board of Education members and I are grateful for the steps Mayor Bass and the City Council have taken to urgently address these safety concerns,” Carvalho’s statement said. “Los Angeles Unified looks forward to continuing the work with all of our state partners to ensure the well-being of our students and school community.”
The steps towards action started last year after a woman was beaten and killed by a car while she was walking with her six-year-old daughter to Hancock Park Elementary School. She was also seriously injured.
