Death Revives Campaign for Traffic Light at Intersection

The day after a city crossing guard was struck and killed in front of Lankershim Elementary School, parents and neighbors gathered at the corner, imploring drivers to slow down and reiterating their long-standing request for a traffic light at the intersection.

“Look at that, look at that!” yelled resident Theresa Newham, pointing at a car that failed to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk at Magnolia Boulevard and Bakman Avenue in North Hollywood. “I’ve been to meeting after meeting asking for a light, and nothing’s happened.”

Before school Tuesday morning, a 17-year-old North Hollywood boy driving east on busy Magnolia Boulevard allegedly lost control of his car and swerved onto the curb, striking and killing crossing guard William Hooper, 60, of Tujunga. Police said the boy did not appear to be speeding, but an investigation is underway. The boy has not been arrested or charged.

The boy’s stepmother, Launa Hunt, said she signed a petition three years ago requesting a traffic light on the corner after a child was hit and injured by a motorist there. Her younger stepson completed the fifth grade at Lankershim Elementary last year, she said.

City Council President John Ferraro said his office had requested a light at the intersection before. It was denied in 1999, transportation officials said.

“If people knew a light or sign was there, they could never really build up any speed to kill anybody,” Hunt said. “I don’t know why they didn’t put a light in.”

A traffic-light petition was being circulated Wednesday by Maria Garcia, 52, a parents’ representative at the school. Garcia said she had gathered about 500 signatures.

“This place is so dangerous,” she said, yelling over the afternoon traffic.

School officials were planning a community meeting with officials from the police and transportation departments to discuss remedies at the corner.

In a possible solution, John Fisher, an assistant general manager of the city Department of Transportation, said the city might install a series of yellow warning lights above the street that would be activated when pedestrians stepped into the crosswalk.

The city, he said, has the intersection on its tentative short list to receive the yellow warning lights, which cost about $20,000 to $25,000--one-fourth the cost of a full signal. Fisher said other city projects are backed up and he was not sure when the lights could be installed.

Meanwhile, city officials said, two crossing guards have been placed at the intersection indefinitely.

A number of Lankershim Elementary students witnessed the accident, Principal Debbie Martinez-Rambeau said. The school assembled a crisis team Wednesday, explaining the incident to students and offering psychological counseling to those who needed it.