Parents in the Old North End delivered a petition with more than 600 signatures to City Hall, asking for safer crossings near two elementary schools. The stack of paper, carried up the front steps by a dozen families and a handful of children in rain boots, landed on the city clerk’s counter just before the Monday deadline for the next council agenda. The message inside was simple: the morning walk to school has become a gamble, and neighbors say they have the near misses to prove it.
The petition focuses on two intersections that sit within a few blocks of each other, one beside each school. Both are wide, both carry commuter traffic heading downtown, and both are crossed every weekday by hundreds of children between 7:45 and 8:15 a.m. Organizers say the problem is not a lack of crossing guards or painted lines. It is speed, sight lines and the sheer number of drivers trying to beat the light.
What they want
The request is specific. Parents are asking for raised crosswalks, flashing beacons and a 20 mph limit during school hours. They argue that each piece does a different job, and that together they would change how drivers behave on streets that were never designed for this much traffic.
- Raised crosswalks that lift the crossing to sidewalk height, so drivers feel the change and slow down without needing a sign to tell them.
- Flashing beacons that a child or crossing guard can activate with a button, giving drivers a bright, unmistakable signal.
- A 20 mph school-hours limit on the approaches to both schools, posted with lighted signs that switch on in the morning and afternoon.
The petition also asks for trimmed hedges at one corner, where parents say a row of overgrown shrubs hides small children from turning drivers until the last second. That item, organizers admit, may be the cheapest fix on the list.
Our kids walk to school. They shouldn’t have to sprint across the street.
Monica Reyes, parent organizer
Reyes, who has two children at one of the schools, started the effort in late spring after what she describes as the third close call she witnessed in a single month. She began keeping a shared notebook at the corner where parents wait for the morning bell, and within weeks it was full of entries: a pickup truck that rolled through a red light, a delivery van that swung wide around a stopped car, a sedan that braked hard enough to leave marks on the pavement.
The near misses
None of the incidents logged by parents ended in an injury, and organizers are quick to say they want to keep it that way. But the notebook, later typed up and attached to the petition, paints a picture that many residents recognized immediately when they were asked to sign.
Darnell Hughes, who lives on one of the corners and has watched the morning rush from his porch for eleven years, said the pattern is familiar. “It’s the same thing every day,” he said. “People are late, they see a gap, and they go. They’re not bad drivers. They’re just in a hurry, and the street lets them be in a hurry.”
That last point came up again and again as reporters spoke with neighbors along both routes. The streets in question are wide, with long, straight stretches between stop signs. Parents say drivers are not breaking the rules out of malice; the design of the road simply invites speed, and a child in a crosswalk is easy to miss at 35 mph.
Several parents described changing their routines because of the traffic. Some now drive children the four or five blocks to school, which adds more cars to the same intersections. Others walk a longer route to reach a corner with a crossing guard. One father said he holds his daughter’s backpack strap at every crossing, even though she is ten.
How the petition came together
Organizers collected signatures over six weeks, at school pickup, at the neighborhood farmers market and door to door on Saturday mornings. They limited signers to people who live, work or have children in school within the neighborhood, and they asked each signer to note which intersection they cross most often. The result, they say, is a document the council cannot dismiss as an online pile-on.
“We wanted names and addresses, not clicks,” said Priya Natarajan, a volunteer who helped sort the pages. “Every one of these is a real neighbor who stood on a porch and talked to us.”
What the city says
City officials responded within days. Engineers will study both intersections this fall, with changes possible by spring. The study will include traffic counts, speed measurements during school hours and a review of sight lines at each corner, according to the city’s public works department.
A spokesperson for the department said the city takes school-zone requests seriously and that the timing works in the neighborhood’s favor, because crews can gather fall data while school is in session and design any changes over the winter. Raised crosswalks require drainage work and are typically built during warmer months, so spring is the earliest realistic window for construction.
The speed limit request is a separate question. Lowering a limit, even only during school hours, requires a council vote, and some members have said they want to see the engineering data before deciding. Council member Gloria Whitaker, whose ward includes both schools, said she supports the parents’ goals and expects the issue to come before the transportation committee once the study is complete.
“I’ve stood on those corners at 8 a.m.,” Whitaker said. “I don’t need a study to tell me it feels unsafe. But a study is how we get the money, and I want the money.”
The cost question
The city has not released cost estimates, and officials cautioned against guessing before the design work is done. Flashing beacons are generally less expensive than raised crossings, and signs and paint cost less still. Organizers say they would welcome a phased approach, as long as the first phase arrives before another school year begins.
Key takeaway: The engineering study is the next step, and its findings this fall will shape what, if anything, is built at both intersections next spring.
How neighbors can weigh in
The transportation committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at City Hall, and public comment is open at the start of every meeting. Residents can also submit written comments to the public works department, which says it will include them in the study file. Parents plan to attend the next meeting as a group and have asked supporters to bring photos of the intersections taken during the morning rush.
Organizers are also asking families to keep logging near misses in the shared notebook, now moved online, so the city has a running record through the study period. They want dates, times and plain descriptions, and they ask people not to post license plates or photos of drivers.
For now, the crossing guards remain the main line of defense. The school district says it has filled both posts for the fall and is reminding families to use marked crossings, to arrive a few minutes early and to keep younger children close at the curb.
What comes next
The study is expected to begin within weeks, and the city says it will share results with the neighborhood before any design decisions are made. If the council moves quickly, raised crosswalks and beacons could be in place by the time the snow melts. If not, parents say they will be back at City Hall, with a longer petition.
Reyes said the group’s goal is not to win an argument with the city but to make a short walk ordinary again. “We’re not asking for anything fancy,” she said. “We’re asking for a street where a second grader can cross without anyone holding their breath.”
We will follow the study and report its findings when they are released. Readers who have seen a near miss at either intersection can share their account with our newsroom through the tip form on our City Hall page.
