...Ruthanne Stoltzfus, a retired teacher who lives in Germantown, said she often stands near Seneca Valley High School after school gets out to help student pedestrians navigate the roads.
Christina Morris-Ward, a sophomore at Seneca Valley, was struck while crossing Md. 118 on her way to school in 2012. She died from her injuries.
Stoltzfus — who said she sees both distracted walkers and distracted drivers — questioned the location of the high school.
“We plant them in between Wisteria [Drive] and Middlebrook [Road] in this great, big, busy block and have them walk all over this congested area,” she said.
Last school year, two Richard Montgomery High School students were hit by cars in separate incidents. One student was struck as she walked in a crosswalk on Rockville Pike. Another student was hit while he was crossing Wootton Parkway where there was no crosswalk.
Montgomery Blair High School sits near University Boulevard and Colesville Road, an area that has seen a high number of traffic accidents, said Therese Gibson, the school’s parent, teacher, student association leader. At the beginning of each academic year, Gibson said, the school will talk to the students about pedestrian safety and the school’s closed-campus rule tied to the area’s dangerous walking conditions...
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Gazette: Youth group says busy roads around Northwest aren’t safe
Gazette: Students look to school board for help with walking, busing issues
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At many schools, students who participate in after-school sports and activities must navigate difficult traffic for significant distances, often without crosswalks or sidewalks. A contributing factor is that Metrobuses make very few stops at some schools. For example, at Blake HS, the Z2 makes only 3 southbound and 2 northbound stops per weekday, with the last stop ending well before many students' activities have concluded. Metro is currently conducting a Priority Service Evaluation Study of high volume routes. Perhaps expansions of its schedules to provide more frequent stops on HS campuses will save lives, as well as advance the opportunities for more student to participate in after-school activities.
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