Protesters Contend It’s Unsafe Walking to Santa Ana School

Santa Ana residents who say they’ve spent two years trying to alert school officials to traffic and pedestrian safety issues plan to protest this morning outside a grade school they contend has become an accident waiting to happen.

Organizers said they expect 300 residents and parents who live near Taft Elementary School to attend the rally. They said school district officials have done little to correct the hazardous traffic conditions around the West Keller Avenue campus.

District officials said they have been working on a solution and will present options to the school board on Tuesday.

During the last two years, the school has expanded to include sixth and seventh grades. With the added students, neighbors say, the traffic has become unbearable.

Pedestrian safety has been an issue that has haunted the city for years. Last year, it topped other Southern California cities in the number of pedestrian-involved accidents.

Organizers planned the rally on Orange County Pedestrian Safety Day because “it’s a perfect time to show our concern,” said Heidi Radisay, who lives in the nearby Sandpointe neighborhood and helped organize the protest.

Taft Principal Bill Hart recognizes the problem and said he can sympathize with residents and parents.

“I would like relief from the traffic as well,” said Hart, who spends mornings in front of the school helping students cross the street. “I think we’re on the same side on this thing. We want kids safe.”

Some predict it’s only a matter of time before tragedy hits.

Jim Walker, who also lives in the Sandpointe neighborhood, said Keller Avenue turns dangerous in the afternoon.

“Parents will come and park on the other side of the street and wave for their kids to come across,” Walker said. “So you’ve got kids crossing the street everywhere, the cars lined up 30 deep, with some cars trying to drive around them. It’s really chaotic, and somebody’s going to get hurt.”

Taft parent Suzanne Ruiz said she’s seen parents grow increasingly frustrated with the traffic as the school has grown.

“It gets pretty hectic, and there are times when parents lose their patience,” said Ruiz, who drives her 8-year-old son, Issac, to school every morning. “I’ve seen parents yelling at the crosswalk person.”

Though there have been a number of minor accidents in front of the school, Hart said there haven’t been any serious accidents reported in the 12 years he’s been principal. Still, when a child was bumped by a car about eight years ago, Hart said, it stirred his awareness of the potential for problems.

Residents said they’ve written letters to the school district and attended board meetings, hoping to spur district action. Some residents have even gone so far as to meet with the pastor of an adjacent church to discuss leasing a strip of land to the district to create a drop-off zone.