Commission eyes improvements to school crossing guard locations
With local schools — and the vehicle and pedestrian traffic that comes with them — in full swing, members of the La Cañada Public Safety Commission recently examined the city’s crossing guard situation looking for possible improvements.
Commissioners heard the initial findings of a crossing guard study in a meeting last Monday, and considered a request from representatives of La Cañada Elementary School for traffic mitigation measures at the juncture of Lasheart Drive and Salisbury Road.
Presented by city traffic engineer Steve Libring, the study was conducted between March and May of last school year. It ranked nine locations by their potential for risk.
Libring explained different risk factors considered for each location, including the number of cars and pedestrians during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up periods, street widths, speed limits and the configuration of the area itself. The presence of each factor earned the location “points”— the more points, the greater a location’s potential for danger.
The riskiest crossing guard location in the city, according to the study, is the crosswalk on Foothill Boulevard at Viro Road near La Cañada High School. It earned a total of 51 points.
“You have maybe 500 kids crossing there, and between 700 to 1,000 cars, so there are not a lot of gaps in traffic,” the traffic engineer explained. “It’s an uncontrolled intersection, so kids when they’re crossing don’t have a stop sign — all of those things factor in.”
By comparison, the crosswalk along Foothill at La Cañada Avenue, traversed daily by La Cañada Elementary School students, ranked only 21 points. But that area presents its own predicament, according to the study.
A single employee posted at the southwest corner of Foothill and Verdugo boulevards must cover wide sections of crosswalks on the disjointed intersection created by the convergence of Verdugo with La Cañada Avenue. A guard posted on that corner cannot simultaneously protect students from traffic making right turns from Verdugo and La Cañada.
City staffer Peter Castro said one recommendation that could be considered was removing a crossing guard from the post with the lowest number of points, on Ocean View Boulevard at Cross Street, and placing that person as a second guard at the busier intersection by Memorial Park. Commissioners heard the suggestion at the Aug. 22 meeting but opted instead to have the study results be reviewed by the Public Works and Traffic Commission.
“Ultimately, the committee didn’t take a position on it either way,” Castro said in a debriefing after the meeting. “There were some parents who came and requested a guard be put at Lasheart and Salisbury. The traffic engineer is looking at that as well.”
Those from the LCE community who attended the meeting expressed frustration at the buildup of cars along Lasheart and Foothill during pick-up and drop-off periods. Commission Chair Marilyn Smith said a subcommittee was formed to look into the matter further and come up with possible solutions, after commissioners learned complaints were brought before the city last November and not addressed.
“We all pride ourselves on having as responsive a government as we can,” she said. “I think it’s our responsibility as a commission to see what we can do.”
The subcommittee intends to develop and distribute a survey of La Cañada Elementary parents to see what alternative measures — such as carpooling, biking or walking to meeting points away from congested areas — might be most feasible.
“We just need this little bit of data about what parents would actually (be willing to) do,” Smith said. “That’s important to know.”
The commission chair said the goal is for the subcommittee to have results available for review by the group’s next regular meeting, scheduled for Sept. 26.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
