SYLMAR : Signal Installed Near Hubbard Elementary

Hubbard Street Elementary School got an early Christmas present Monday, and one that may make it safer for children attending classes.

Capping more than five years of effort by parents, elected officials and school administrators, the city of Los Angeles installed a traffic signal at Fenton Avenue and Hubbard Street in Sylmar.

Parents and school officials have complained about traffic along busy Hubbard Street at least since 1989, according to Tom Swire, a senior transportation engineer with the city Department of Transportation. Last year, he said, a child crossing the street to school was struck by a car and seriously injured near the intersection.

Hubbard Street handles heavy traffic to and from Mission College and El Cariso Park, both just two blocks northeast of the elementary school.

Previously, many children crossed Hubbard Street to the school at Kismet Avenue, where the child was struck, Swire said. But that intersection was too close to an existing signal at Hubbard Street and Eldridge Avenue to justify a light of its own, Swire said.

Even though Fenton Avenue was farther away, it didn’t qualify either--partly because it didn’t have enough pedestrian traffic, Swire said.

Redirecting all students to a crosswalk at Fenton Avenue and Hubbard Street solved both problems, Swire said.

The fact that two council members were involved in the campaign also may have helped. Hubbard Street divides districts represented by City Councilmen Richard Alarcon and Hal Bernson.

Both councilmen shared the credit Monday, joining hands with children, administrators, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus in the first symbolic crossing at the signal Monday morning.