Prince George’s County Public Schools received $1.2 million from the federal government to keep kids out of the cross hairs of cars as they walk to school.
The school system will use the “Safe Routes to School” program funding to build new sidewalk segments in areas where there are gaps, and add pedestrian safety education to the curriculum at 13 elementary and middle schools.
“As traffic volume has increased — it does every day — parents have felt less comfortable allowing their children to walk to school,” said Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. He doesn’t let his sixth-grader and high school student walk to school for that reason, “but we’re going to change that.”
The governor’s office is distributing $3.4 million across 11 Maryland school districts, but none may need the dollars more than Prince George’s. Last year, 23 pedestrians were killed in crashes in Prince George’s — more than in any other county in Maryland.
In 2010, 550 pedestrians age 15 or younger were struck by a vehicle; 70 of those incidents were in Prince George’s. In the last two years alone, there have been five pedestrian-involved traffic accidents within a half mile of Glenridge and Woodridge elementary schools in Woodlawn.
There are more than 1,000 students between the adjacent campuses, “many of whom walk — or try to walk — to school every day,” said Glorida MCoy, principal of Glenridge. “However, there’s traffic, and some goes quickly. We need protection for our precious, precious students.”
Much of the surrounding community is residential, but lacks sidewalks on both sides of the streets. A common footpath to Glenridge is a sidewalk that dead-ends, meaning many children end up jaywalking across busy Gallatin Street.
The county’s department of public works and transportation will fill in these “gaps,” said Patrick Foster, an engineering technician. Cheverly is considering adding crosswalks, including raised paths that double as speed bumps to slow down drivers. Other parts of the county may add them in the future as well.
A survey by the Maryland Department of Education showed that, in one day alone last year, more than 7,000 drivers across the state violated school bus laws. Prince George’s County had 136 violations for drivers illegally passing school buses on the door side where students board, the most of any jurisdiction in Maryland.
Jason Kamara, a sixth-grader at Glenridge, carried a sign on the school’s front lawn Wednesday that read, “Keep kids alive.”
“I’m excited that our school’s getting a lot of money and we’re helping kids be safe,” he said.
